MDB Newsletter 10-12-2009

Posted in Newsletter on Monday, October 12 2009

INSIDER Special Edition - Medical Design 10/12/09
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In this edition, sponsored by PennEngineering, Master Bond and Degree Controls:

• Metallic Glass Alloy Fixes Broken Bones
• Chip-Based Mobile Blood Test Provides Faster Analysis
• Safer Cystic Fibrosis Test Would be Non-Invasive
• Wireless Brain Implant Uses Telemetric Electrode Array System
• Sensory Feedback System for a Prosthetic Hand

Metallic Glass Alloy Fixes Broken Bones

Magnesium-based metallic glass only forms a thin corrosion layer (above left) and produces no hydrogen (above right) in tissue. By contrast, traditional magnesium alloys generate undesired gas bubbles during degradation. (LMPT/ETH Zurich)
Materials researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology have developed a metallic glass alloy of magnesium-zinc-calcium that could lead to a new generation of biodegradable bone implants. When bones break, surgeons need screws and metal plates to fix the broken bones in place. Once the bones heal, the metal parts have to be removed from the body. The new implants are made of bioabsorbable metals, and stabilize the bones only for as long as they need to heal. The metal then dissolves in the body over time.

Metallic glasses are produced by rapid cooling of the molten material, and have an amorphous structure like that of window glass. Thanks to this procedure, the researchers can add much more zinc to the molten magnesium than is possible with conventional alloys. The alloy contains up to 35 percent zinc and 5 percent calcium atoms, and the rest is made up of magnesium. The major advantage of a high percentage of zinc is that it fundamentally changes the corrosion of the magnesium.

This means that this new alloy, in the form of a metallic glass, has considerable potential as a non-harmful bone implant material.

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Chip-Based Mobile Blood Test Provides Faster Analysis


Research scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering have formed a consortium to develop a chip-based blood analysis system that takes just a few minutes to learn whether there are any pathogens in the blood sample. The technique provides the basis for faster analysis, whether in a hospital or for mobile blood donations. A few drops of blood could be tested in any location to check whether it can be used. Only if the result is positive will the doctors take a larger quantity from the donor.

The basis for the system is a glass chip with antibodies on it. Tiny surface oscillations are induced in the chip. If the relevant virus binds with an antibody, the oscillation changes. The new chip consists of four analysis squares, which means that the blood can be examined for four different pathogens during each test.

It has also been difficult until now for lab workers to avoid contact with the blood and protect themselves from infection while conducting tests. To prevent this, the researchers have encapsulated the chip, which makes the blood follow a defined course on the chip, protecting the user.

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Degree Controls, an industry leading provider of airflow sensing and control products, announced the C600, a unique fan controller, which controls fan RPM, based on measuring real time air velocity. This is the way to ensure that expected linear air velocity determined during system design, is maintained in your actual system.

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Safer Cystic Fibrosis Test Would be Non-Invasive

Dr. Cori Daines (left) and Eric Snyder, Ph.D. of the University of Arizona.
Researchers from The University of Arizona colleges of pharmacy and medicine are developing a non-invasive lung test for cystic fibrosis sufferers. Cystic fibrosis (CF) results from a genetic alteration that lowers the function of chloride channels in the lung, which leads to a dry lung. The drier a CF patient's lungs, the more dangerous his or her disease.

Studies have shown that a common drug used in cystic fibrosis, a beta-agonist, increases the amount of chloride on cells, which should help keep the lungs wet. The problem is there is not currently an easy way to measure the amount of chloride on a person's lung cells in order to optimize his therapy.

Today, measuring what is on lung cells requires an invasive test called bronchoalveolar lavage, which determines the level of disease severity by exploring inflammatory markers, and could also be used to collect signs of chloride, and possibly lung dryness. The test is invasive and carries some risk.

The non-invasive procedure involves measuring signs of lung dryness by using a patient's breath that is condensed in a cooling chamber. To do this, the team will first have a patient breathe into a machine that condenses the patient's breath in a cooling chamber. The amount of sodium, potassium, and chloride it contains is measured.

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Tech Briefs

The Army Research Lab (ARL) has developed a 3D intra-cortical electrode array with the electronics required for signal acquisition, processing, and wireless communication entirely from within the head. The system would monitor the activities of ensembles of single neurons that affect perception, cognition, and action. The system would provide a "brain-machine interface.
Click here for the full story.

The ARL also developed a sensory feedback system for a myoelectrically controlled biomimetic prosthetic hand. The human neuromuscular control system enables sensory feedback via stimulus frequency changes. The system would help amputees execute fine tasks or handle delicate objects easily.
Click here for the full story.

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