Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology demonstrated in an animal study that nanoparticles shuttling two different cancer drugs could effectively cross the blood-brain barrier and target tumor cells. The team of scientists evaluated the drug combination in mice that had gliobastoma – an aggressive form of brain cancer that is notoriously hard to treat. […]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT researchers devise single-injection delivery method for polio vaccine
Although most of the world is protected from the polio virus thanks to a vaccine developed decades ago, some countries remain vulnerable to the disease thanks to challenges posed by a vaccine that requires repeat dosing. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology want to change that with a nanoparticle vaccine that can deliver multiple doses of […]
This fluorescent dye could create clearer biological imaging
Massachusetts researchers have repurposed a commercially-available dye that has been around since the 1950s to make short-wave infrared easily available for clearer imaging. Fluorescence imaging is often used to visualize biological tissues or blood vessels during reconstructive surgery to see if vessels are connected properly. Currently, researchers use a dye that runs at the near-infrared […]
MIT study reveals the problem with bioresorbable stents
Bioresorbable coronary scaffolds, designed to avoid the risks associated with the long-term implantation of metal stents, once captured the attention of medtech giants like Abbott (NYSE:ABT) and Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX). But companies have since linked the use of these biodegradable polymer-based devices to a heightened risk of myocardial infarction and thrombosis, prompting Abbott to pull its Absorb product from the […]
Drug delivering contact lenses win MIT’s top healthcare innovation prize
Contact lenses that deliver medications directly to the eye over a period of days or weeks was the recent grand prize winner of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan Healthcare Innovation Prize. The MIT Sloan Healthcare Innovation Prize competition had 8 finalists who pitched their healthcare innovations to judges from Optum and other local venture firms, […]
Researchers develop capsule to deliver a week’s worth of HIV drugs
A team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brigham & Women’s Hospital have developed a drug-delivery capsule that can deliver a week’s worth of HIV drugs in a single dose. The technology is designed to make it easier for people with HIV to deal with the strict schedule of medications they need to take to […]
Philips to move North America HQ to biotech hotspot Cambridge
Royal Philips (NYSE:PHG) plans to move its North American headquarters and nearly 2,000 employees to Cambridge, Mass. in 2020, according to reports. The medical technology company partners with a number of Cambridge- and Boston-based hospitals and institutions, so its decision to move to the Cambridge Crossing campus was one, partially, of convenience. “It just made sense […]
How slugs, snails & worms inspired Gecko Biomedical’s biocompatible sealant
The story behind Gecko Biomedical’s biocompatible sealant starts in the summer of 2009, when Boston Children’s Hospital‘s chief of cardiac surgery reached out to Jeffrey Karp about a problem he was experiencing in the operating room. Dr. Pedro del Nido told Karp, a professor of medicine at Harvard and the director of the Laboratory for Accelerated Medical Innovation […]
Artificial intelligence could prevent breast cancer false positives: Here’s how
Artificial intelligence could improve detection and diagnosis of breast cancer and eliminate false positives, according to new research out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). A team of researchers from MIT’s CSAIL, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School developed an AI system with machine learning that can […]
Smart bandage releases medication as needed
A team of researchers from the University of Nebraska, Harvard Medical School and MIT have created a smart bandage that can be loaded with antibiotics, painkillers or other drugs and triggered by a smartphone. The bandage, made of electrically conductive fibers individually coated in a drug-loaded hydrogel, could be used to deliver multiple drugs at a precise time and dose, […]
This smart mat can predict the onset of foot ulcers
A Massachusetts Institute of Technology hackathon participant developed a smart mat that helps detect early warning signs of foot ulcers. Jon Bloom, co-founder of startup company Podimetrics, developed a mat that can detect foot ulcers before they happen and reduce the number of amputations occurring. Bloom completed his residency in anesthesiology at Massachusetts General Hospital in […]