MedTech News
.................... by Andrew Celentano
Augmented eye clinic shows why AI-native systems work where standalone algorithms don’t
AI in eye care is set to take a new leap with an AI-native rather than assisted approach. Researchers have developed a new tool that moves beyond the conventional model of deploying AI as isolated, standalone tools for individual tasks by bringing together a network of specialized AI software agents that can operate across every stage of a patient’s care pathway.
Cancer drug pushes mutant blood stem cells to become short-lived immune cells
The biologic drug interferon-alpha can benefit patients with blood cancers called myeloproliferative neoplasms by forcing mutant blood stem cells to become shorter-lived white blood cells, according to a study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. Because the broad activity of interferon-alpha can induce significant side effects, developing more focused strategies based on these mechanistic findings could meet an important need in cancer therapy.
Machine learning system can identify cancer cells based on how they scatter light
Cytological tests are a common method of screening for cancer cells in stained cell samples. Using a microscope, pathologists examine cells collected from bodily fluids, looking for telltale signs of malignancy, like enlarged nuclei or abnormal cell shapes. Owing to their minimally invasive nature, these tests are widely used for early cancer screening and diagnosis.
Simple urine test could guide kidney-protective treatment choices in type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes increases the risk of chronic kidney disease, making prevention of kidney failure a key part of treatment. Newer diabetes medications, including GLP-1s and SGLT2 inhibitors, can reduce the risk of kidney disease, but previous studies have included large proportions of patients who already had signs of kidney damage, making it unclear whether the findings applied to patients without kidney damage.
Engineered mice give human brain organoids space to form working circuits
Stanford Medicine scientists have chalked up a major advance in growing human brain cells outside the human brain—and outside laboratory glassware.
Metabolite buildup reveals how aggressive brain tumors activate nearby neurons
Virtually all high-grade, aggressive gliomas in adults accumulate massive amounts of a metabolite called guanidinoacetate (GAA) that overstimulates nearby neurons and promotes tumor growth, according to new research from scientists at Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) published in Cell.
New test could dramatically speed diagnosis of hard-to-detect lung infections
A little-known chronic lung disease is silently emerging as a growing public health threat in the U.S. and around the world. Nontuberculous mycobacteria—a group of 200 known environmental bacteria found in soil and water, including household plumbing—can cause chronic, tuberculosis-like lung infections. NTM lung disease afflicts as many as 300,000 Americans a year.
Osteoporosis fractures fall by 94% in small first-in-human stem cell trial
Somewhere in the world, a woman over 50 will have fractured a bone by the time you finish reading this sentence due to osteoporosis, a silent bone disease that can weaken the structural integrity of the skeletal system and a person’s quality of life. The disease weakens bones and makes them more likely to break because of reduced bone mineral density and bone mass, and it affects an estimated 75 million people across Europe, the USA, and Japan.