Biomedical engineers and imaging researchers gave 45 congressional staff a glimpse of transformative medical technologies on the horizon, underscoring the crucial role of medical tools in human health.

Researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC with NIH funding including NIBIB have adapted a low-cost imaging method developed for ophthalmology and used it to visualize tiny structures in the human inner ear.  

Source: USC Keck School of Medicine News.

A scientific team supported in part by NIH has developed a new, ultra-high-resolution brain imaging system that can reconstruct microscopic brain structures that are disrupted in neurological and neuropsychiatric brain disorders. The new system is a significant advance over conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners that cannot visualize these tiny but clinically important structures. Source: NIH

Caltech professor of medical engineering Wei Gao and his colleagues are envisioning a smart bandage of the future—a "lab on skin" that could not only help patients and caregivers monitor the status of chronic wounds but also deliver treatment and speed up the healing process for those cuts, incisions, scrapes, and burns that are slow to heal on their own. Source: California Institute of Technology

Saying one thing while feeling another is part of being human, but bottling up emotions can have serious psychological consequences like anxiety or panic attacks. To help health care providers tell the difference, a team led by scientists at Penn State has created a stretchable, rechargeable sticker that can detect real emotions — by measuring things like skin temperature and heart rate — even when users put on a brave face.  The researchers recently unveiled the wearable patch that can simultaneously and accurately track multiple emotional signals in a study published in the journal Nano Letters.

Read more: Penn State Research.

High-intensity electrical pulses have been medically used to destroy tumors while sparing healthy tissue. But lower-intensity pulses may have a different effect — they reshape the battlefield, making tumors more vulnerable to the body’s own defenses.

Researchers at Virginia Tech have discovered that these lower-intensity pulses alter the tumor’s environment, increasing blood vessel density within a day of treatment and boosting lymphatic vessel growth by day three. These changes may help guide immune cells to the tumor, potentially improving the body's natural ability to fight cancer.  Source: Virginia Tech News

Scientists have transformed RNA, a biological molecule present in all living cells, into a biosensor that can detect tiny chemicals relevant to human health.

Research by Rutgers University-New Brunswick scientists centers on RNA, a nucleic acid that plays a crucial role in most cellular processes. Their work is expected to have applications in the surveillance of environmental chemicals and, ultimately, the diagnosis of critical diseases including neurological and cardiovascular diseases and cancer.  Source: Rutgers Today

Northwestern University researchers have developed the first wearable device for measuring gases emitted from and absorbed by the skin.

By analyzing these gases, the device offers an entirely new way to assess skin health, including monitoring wounds, detecting skin infections, tracking hydration levels, quantifying exposure to harmful environmental chemicals and more. Source: Northwestern Now

Investigators from Mass General Brigham and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have developed STITCHR, a new gene editing tool that can insert therapeutic genes into specific locations without causing unwanted mutations. The system can be formulated completely as RNA, dramatically simplifying delivery logistics compared to traditional systems that use both RNA and DNA.  Source: Massachusetts General Brigham