http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A handheld diagnostic device that Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators first developed to diagnose cancer has been adapted to rapidly diagnose tuberculosis (TB) and other important infectious bacteria. Two papers appearing in the journals Nature Communications and Nature Nanotechnology describe portable devices that combine microfluidic technology with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to not only diagnose these important infections but also determine the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. http://phys.org/news286954721.html Nanotechnology Sun, 05 May 2013 13:00:09 EST news286954721 (Phys.org)—Scotch tape, a versatile household staple and a mainstay of holiday gift-wrapping, may have a new scientific application as a shape-changing "smart material." http://phys.org/news272649047.html Chemistry Tue, 20 Nov 2012 15:51:05 EST news272649047 (Phys.org)—Since the advent of cancer nanotechnology, researchers have sought to use magnetic fields to increase the concentration of drug-loaded iron oxide nanoparticles that reach a tumor. However, magnetic fields drop off quickly with distance, making it almost impossible to consider such an approach for tumors located more than a few centimeters from the skin. To solve what appears to be a fundamentally unsolvable problem, researchers at the Stanford University Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (Stanford CCNE) have taken a two-pronged approach, one that uses an external magnetic field and an implantable magnetizable mesh to create local magnetic fields strong enough to trap nanoparticles at a specific location. http://phys.org/news269852454.html Nanotechnology Fri, 19 Oct 2012 08:01:06 EST news269852454 (Phys.org)—Using clusters of tiny magnetic particles about 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair, researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have shown that they can manipulate how thousands of cells divide, morph and develop finger-like extensions. http://phys.org/news269591520.html Nanotechnology Tue, 16 Oct 2012 07:32:25 EST news269591520 MIT researchers have developed a new technique for magnetically separating oil and water that could be used to clean up oil spills. They believe that, with their technique, the oil could be recovered for use, offsetting much of the cost of cleanup. http://phys.org/news266648022.html Chemistry Wed, 12 Sep 2012 05:54:04 EST news266648022 (Phys.org) -- For more than three decades scientists have been investigating magnetic nanoparticles as a method of drug delivery. Now by combining three metals - iron, gold and platinum - pharmacists at the University of Sydney believe they have discovered a method for magnetically directing drugs through the body. http://phys.org/news257674059.html Nanotechnology Thu, 31 May 2012 09:08:12 EST news257674059 Medicine-toting nanochains slip into tumors and explode a chemotherapy drug into hard-to-reach cores of cancer, engineers and scientists at Case Western Reserve University report. http://phys.org/news253966523.html Nanotechnology Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:15:38 EST news253966523 Dr. Hiroaki Mamiya, a Senior Researcher of the Neutron Scattering Group, Quantum Beam Unit, National Institute for Materials Science, Japan, in collaboration with Prof. Balachandran Jeyadevan of the School of Engineering at the University of Shiga Prefecture have investigated theoretically the mechanism of hyperthermic potentiation of cancers using magnetic nanoparticles, which enables selective heating of hidden micro cancer tissue, and clarified the fact that the nanoparticles under large magnetic fields form unique oriented states, depending respectively on subtle differences in their local  environment in the cancer tissue and consequently affect the optimum heating conditions. http://phys.org/news243765442.html Nanotechnology Thu, 22 Dec 2011 08:50:01 EST news243765442 (PhysOrg.com) -- With the advent of targeted drug therapy for treating cancer, it has become clear that an important predictor of success of these therapies is whether such a drug is reaching its target in the patient. The bottom-line measure of success is survival, but having some rapid measure of drug targeting would enable oncologists to make early changes in therapy if the amount of drug reaching its intended target was insufficient to kill a tumor. http://phys.org/news241093688.html Nanotechnology Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:30:01 EST news241093688 LANL scientists have genetically engineered "magnetic" algae to investigate alternative, more efficient harvesting and lipid extraction methods for biofuels. The researchers seek to reduce the cost of algae-based biofuel production. http://phys.org/news238234593.html Nanotechnology Wed, 19 Oct 2011 09:17:28 EST news238234593 University at Buffalo scientists have used magnetic nanoparticles to remotely control ion channels, neurons in cell culture and even the movement of a tiny worm. http://phys.org/news236848472.html Nanotechnology Mon, 03 Oct 2011 08:14:41 EST news236848472 (PhysOrg.com) -- Used in Hollywood and the advertising industry to create exotic special effects, ferrofluids are seemingly magical materials that are both liquid and magnetic at once. In a study published today in Physical Review B, Yale electrical engineering professor Hur Koser and colleagues from the University of Georgia and Massachusetts Institute of Technology demonstrate for the first time an approach that allows ferrofluids to be pumped by magnetic fields alone. The invention could lead to new applications for this mysterious material. http://phys.org/news235376721.html Physics Fri, 16 Sep 2011 07:28:35 EST news235376721 Using a handheld molecular imaging device in combination with magnetic nanoparticles and a smartphone, a team of investigators from the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School has developed a fast, portable and potentially inexpensive method of detecting cancer from human biopsy samples. Initial results obtained using fine need biopsies taken from human cancer patients show this device trumps traditional pathological methods, both in terms of speed and diagnostic accuracy. http://phys.org/news220529184.html Nanotechnology Mon, 28 Mar 2011 14:30:01 EST news220529184 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers in the US have developed a device that works with a smartphone to diagnose a suspicious lump in a patient and determine within an hour if it is benign or cancerous. http://phys.org/news217747314.html Medicine & Health Thu, 24 Feb 2011 07:50:01 EST news217747314 (PhysOrg.com) -- Magnetic nanoparticles could be used to track neural stem cells after a transplant in order to monitor how the cells heal spinal injuries, say UCL scientsts. http://phys.org/news216896154.html Nanotechnology Mon, 14 Feb 2011 08:56:05 EST news216896154 With cholera on the rampage in Haiti and almost 40 other countries, scientists are reporting the development of a key advance that could provide a fast, simple test to detect the toxin that causes the disease. The report appears in ACS' journal Bioconjugate Chemistry. Cholera affects more than 200,000 people annually, mainly in developing countries, and causes about 5,000 deaths. Many involve infants, children, and the elderly. http://phys.org/news216476289.html Chemistry Wed, 09 Feb 2011 12:18:18 EST news216476289 The next big thing in medical diagnostics could be minutes particles of rust, iron oxide, coated with the material from which sand is formed, silicon dioxide. These magnetic nanoparticles, a mere 29 to 230 nanometers across, can be used to trap antibodies to the virus that causes cervical cancer and to the bacteria that causes potentially lethal diarrhea. http://phys.org/news215690621.html Nanotechnology Mon, 31 Jan 2011 10:04:04 EST news215690621 (PhysOrg.com) -- A paper published in the January issue of the journal Nanomedicine could provide the foundation for a new ovarian cancer treatment option -- one that would use an outside-the-body filtration device to remove a large portion of the free-floating cancer cells that often create secondary tumors. http://phys.org/news215334637.html Nanotechnology Thu, 27 Jan 2011 07:20:01 EST news215334637 (PhysOrg.com) -- To improve the tumor-specific delivery of drug to tumors, a team of investigators from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) has created a system of nanoparticles-within-a-nanoparticle that can be directed to and concentrated at the site of tumor using a magnetic field. http://phys.org/news209902851.html Nanotechnology Thu, 25 Nov 2010 16:20:01 EST news209902851 Using hyperthermia, Virginia Tech engineering researchers and a colleague from India unveiled a new method to target and destroy cancerous cells. The research was presented at the 63rd annual meeting of the American Physical Society Nov. 23 in Long Beach, Calif. http://phys.org/news209706964.html Nanotechnology Tue, 23 Nov 2010 03:56:23 EST news209706964 The United States Patent Office has issued a patent to Dr. Mark DeCoster, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Louisiana Tech University, for his invention of an "Electromagnetic Probe Device" - an innovative technology developed at Louisiana Tech's Institute for Micromanufacturing. http://phys.org/news200057068.html Technology Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:24:40 EST news200057068 Nanotechnology refers to a broad range of tools, techniques and applications that simply involve particles on the approximate size scale of a few to hundreds of nanometers in diameter. Particles of this size have some unique physicochemical and surface properties that lend themselves to novel uses. Indeed, advocates of nanotechnology suggest that this area of research could contribute to solutions for some of the major problems we face on the global scale such as ensuring a supply of safe drinking water for a growing population, as well as addressing issues in medicine, energy, and agriculture. http://phys.org/news199595945.html Nanotechnology Thu, 29 Jul 2010 06:20:01 EST news199595945 A major complicating factor in the treatment of ovarian cancer is that malignant cells are often shed into the patient’s abdominal cavity. These cells can then spread to other tissues, seeding new tumors that make effective therapy difficult. To overcome this problem, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology created magnetic nanoparticles that can selectively bind to and remove ovarian tumor cells from abdominal cavity fluid. John F. McDonald led the research team that reported their work in the journal Nanomedicine. http://phys.org/news198570612.html Nanotechnology Sun, 18 Jul 2010 15:30:01 EST news198570612 (PhysOrg.com) -- Clusters of heated, magnetic nanoparticles targeted to cell membranes can remotely control ion channels, neurons and even animal behavior, according to a paper published by University at Buffalo physicists in Nature Nanotechnology. http://phys.org/news197646258.html Nanotechnology Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:45:37 EST news197646258 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory and the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign recently reported a new technique for directly writing composites of nanoparticles and polymers. http://phys.org/news186251297.html Nanotechnology Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:28:35 EST news186251297 Scientists at Georgia Tech and the Ovarian Cancer Institute have further developed a potential new treatment against cancer that uses magnetic nanoparticles to attach to cancer cells, removing them from the body. The treatment, tested in mice in 2008, has now been tested using samples from human cancer patients. The results appear online in the journal Nanomedicine. http://phys.org/news184247005.html Nanotechnology Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:43:49 EST news184247005 A team led by Yale University scientists has developed a way to rapidly manipulate and sort different cells in the blood using magnetizable liquids. The findings, which will be published the week of December 7 in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could dramatically improve the speed and sensitivity of tests used to detect cancer biomarkers, blood disorders, viruses and other diseases. http://phys.org/news179423243.html Nanotechnology Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:48:29 EST news179423243 (PhysOrg.com) -- Whether it's magnetic nanoparticles (mNPs) giving an army of 'therapeutically armed' white blood cells direction to invade a deadly tumour's territory, or the use of mNPs to target specific nerve channels and induce nerve-led behaviour (such as the life-dependant thumping of our hearts), mNPs have come a long way in the past decade. http://phys.org/news176702544.html Nanotechnology Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:03:35 EST news176702544 (PhysOrg.com) -- Surgical removal of a tissue sample is now the standard for diagnosing cancer. Such procedures, known as biopsies, are accurate but offer only a snapshot of the tumor at a single moment in time. http://phys.org/news167335574.html Nanotechnology Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:10:01 EST news167335574 A multi-disciplinary team of scientists from the University of Leicester could be potentially paving the way for the development of a powerful new strategy for both the early diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. http://phys.org/news159191419.html Nanotechnology Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:50:44 EST news159191419