Engineers Use Machine Learning to Reconstruct Holograms and Improve Optical Microscopy
A form of machine learning called deep learning is one of the key technologies behind recent advances in applications like real-time speech recognition and automated image and video labeling. The approach, which uses multi-layered artificial neural networks to automate data analysis, also has shown significant promise for health care: It could be used, for example, to…
Revolutionary Imaging Technique Uses CRISPR to Map DNA Mutations
A team of scientists led by Virginia Commonwealth University physicist Jason Reed, Ph.D., have developed new nanomapping technology that could transform the way disease-causing genetic mutations are diagnosed and discovered. Described in a study published today in the journal Nature Communications, this novel approach uses high-speed atomic force microscopy (AFM) combined with a CRISPR-based chemical barcoding…
Algorithm Better at Diagnosing Pneumonia Than Radiologists
Stanford researchers have developed an algorithm that offers diagnoses based off chest X-ray images. It can diagnose up to 14 types of medical conditions and is able to diagnose pneumonia better than expert radiologists working alone A paper about the algorithm, called CheXNet, was published Nov. 14 on the open-access, scientific preprint website arXiv. “Interpreting X-ray images…
X-Rays Reveal the Biting Truth About Parrotfish Teeth
So, you thought the fictional people-eating great white shark in the film “Jaws” had a powerful bite. But don’t overlook the mighty mouth of the parrotfish – its hardy teeth allow it to chomp on coral all day long, ultimately chewing and grinding it up through digestion into fine sand. That’s right: Its “beak” creates…
Novel ‘Tracking’ Nanoagents Illuminate Very Small Diseased Tissues
Polymer nanoagents that can ‘light up’ tiny areas of diseased tissues that conventional methods fail to detect, have been created by a research team led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) The nanoagents, known as ‘semiconductor polymer nanoparticles’ (SPNs), can store light energy from sources such as sunlight, near-infrared light or even light from…
LEDs Light the Way for Better Drug Therapies
Radioactivity may have a bad rap, but it plays a critical role in medical research. A revolutionary new technique to create radioactive molecules, pioneered in the lab of Princeton chemistry professor David MacMillan, has the potential to bring new medicines to patients much faster than before. “Your average drug takes 12 to 14 years to…
Quantum Dots Visualize Tiny Vibrational Resonances
Ocean Sound Waves May Reveal Location of Incoming Objects
The ocean can seem like an acoustically disorienting place, with muffled sounds from near and far blending together in a murky sea of noise. Now an MIT mathematician has found a way to cut through this aquatic cacaphony, to identify underwater sound waves generated by objects impacting the ocean’s surface, such as debris from meteorites…
Missile Detection Inspires Safer Cardiac Imaging Approach
Heart disease is the leading cause of death globally, with coronary artery disease (CAD) attributed to one in seven deaths in the United States. CAD is a condition where major blood vessels that supply the heart with blood, oxygen, and other nutrients become damaged or diseased, as defined by The Mayo Clinic. A buildup of…
Seeing the Next Dimension of Computer Chips
A research collaboration between Osaka University and the Nara Institute of Science and Technology for the first time used scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to create images of atomically flat side-surfaces of 3D silicon crystals. This work helps semiconductor manufacturers continue to innovate while producing smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient computer chips for computers and smartphones.…
New Cardiac Catheter Combines Light, Ultrasound to Measure Plaques
To win the battle against heart disease, cardiologists need better ways to identify the composition of plaque most likely to rupture and cause a heart attack. Angiography allows them to examine blood vessels for constricted regions by injecting them with a contrast agent before X-raying them. But because plaque does not always result in constricted…
MRI Contrast Agent Locates, Distinguishes Aggressive From Slow-Growing Breast Cancer
-A new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent being tested by researchers at Case Western Reserve University not only pinpoints breast cancers at early stages but differentiates between aggressive and slow-growing types. “Doing both will help doctors find the right treatment,” said Zheng-Rong Lu, the M. Frank Rudy and Margaret Dormiter Rudy Professor of Biomedical…
Rapid Imaging of Granular Matter
Even in our modern world full of highly technological machines and devices it is still impossible to predict when rockslides, such as the recent one in Graubünden, or earthquakes will occur and how exactly they evolve. This is partly due to the fact that despite many years of research, scientists have only just begun to…
New Microscopy Method for Reliable 3D Imaging of Curvilinear Nanostructures
Physical and biological sciences increasingly require the ability to observe nano-sized objects. This can be accomplished with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which is generally limited to 2D images. Using TEM to reconstruct 3D images instead usually requires tilting the sample through an arc to image hundreds of views of it and needs sophisticated image processing…
New Wrapping Material Enables High Quality Bioimaging
A nanosheet made of organic polymers has been developed to prevent the drying and deforming of biological samples, thus enabling high-quality imaging under microscopes. Be it cosmology or biology, the advancement of science largely relies on the advancement of measuring instruments and methodology. In the past couple of decades, scientists’ passion to see the invisible…
Fast, Economical Bioimaging Technique Created
A new approach to optical imaging makes it possible to quickly and economically monitor multiple molecular interactions in a large area of living tissue — such as an organ or a small animal; technology that could have applications in medical diagnosis, guided surgery, or pre-clinical drug testing. The method, which is detailed in Nature Photonics, is…
New Terahertz Imaging Approach Could Speed Up Skin Cancer Detection
Researchers have developed a new terahertz imaging approach that, for the first time, can acquire micron-scale resolution images while retaining computational approaches designed to speed up image acquisition. This combination could allow terahertz imaging to be useful for detecting early-stage skin cancer without requiring a tissue biopsy from the patient. Terahertz wavelengths fall between microwaves…
System Creates 3D Images of Tissue Samples Without Conventional Lenses
A new system developed by UCLA researchers could make it easier and less expensive to diagnose chronic diseases, particularly in remote areas without expensive lab equipment. The technology uses extremely simple optical hardware and a lens-free microscope, as well as sophisticated algorithms that help reconstruct the images of tissue samples. It could make much-needed diagnostic…
Night Vision for Bird & Bat-Friendly Offshore Wind Power
The same technology that enables soldiers to see in the dark can also help protect birds and bats near offshore wind turbines. Night vision goggles use thermal imaging, which captures infrared light that’s invisible to the human eye. Now, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are using thermal imaging to help birds and…
Medical Imaging Technique Proves Useful for Automotive Industry
Holograms Taken to New Dimension
Technology developed by a team of University of Utah electrical and computer engineers could make the holographic chess game R2-D2 and Chewbacca played in “Star Wars” a reality. The team led by electrical and computer engineering associate professor Rajesh Menon has discovered a way to create inexpensive full-color 2-D and 3-D holograms that are far…
New Algorithms Extract Biological Structure from Limited Data
Understanding the 3D molecular structure of important nanoobjects like proteins and viruses is crucial in biology and medicine. With recent advances in X-ray technology, scientists can now collect diffraction images from individual particles, ultimately allowing researchers to visualize molecules at room temperature. However, determining 3D structure from these single-particle diffraction experiments is a significant hurdle.…