arteries
Latest
ICYMI: Fast brain upload, mind-control monkeys & more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-222051{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-222051, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-222051{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-222051").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Researchers at HRL Labs have developed a system to upload information to your brain using electrical signals already mapped from an expert's mind. Duke University is testing a wireless brain-machine interface that allows monkeys to steer a wheelchair with their mind, which they were able to do while also improving their skills over time. Cardiologists have a new tool to roto-rooter blood vessels filled with plague in the first FDA approved device that helps surgeons see inside vessels with a built-in camera.
ICYMI: Toilet tech, sight-giving headset & lab-grown veins
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-185676{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-185676, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-185676{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-185676").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Biosynthetic veins and arteries have been created by researchers in London that are able to imitate traits of human tissues, including the ability to self-heal. A headset designed for people with serious vision problems costs a hefty $15,000 but is able to modify sight for users by sending a tweaked for color and focus livestream of reality back to the display. And a Kickstarter gadget aims to tech out your toilet to actually smell okay rather than like... well you know.
Researchers use 3D printer, sugar, to create a fake artery network for lab-grown tissue
Printing a chocolate heart is easy enough, but how about an actual organ? There are folks working on it, but it turns out those veins of yours aren't exactly a breeze to replicate. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and MIT may have found a semi-sweet solution -- dissolving a sugar lattice in a batch of living Jell-O. The research team uses a RepRap 3D printer and a custom extruder head to print a filament network composed of sucrose, glucose and dextran which is later encased in a bio-gel containing living cells. Once the confectionery paths are dissolved, they leave a network of artery-like channels in their void. Tissue living in the gel can then receive oxygen and nutrients through the hollow pipes. The research has been promising so far, and has increased the number of functional liver cells the team has been able to maintain in artificial tissues. These results suggest the technique could have future research possibilities in developing lab-grown organs. MIT Professor Sangeeta Bhatia, who helped conduct the effort, hopes to push the group's work further. "More work will be needed to learn how to directly connect these types of vascular networks to natural blood vessels while at the same time investigating fundamental interactions between the liver cells and the patterned vasculature. It's an exciting future ahead." Scientists at other labs could also get their mitts on the sweet templates since they're stable enough to endure shipping. Head past the break for a video of the innard infrastructure.
