NIBIB in the News

A team of engineers led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and including colleagues from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently announced in the journal Nature Communications that they had successfully built a tissue-like bioelectronic mesh system. The mesh can grow along with the cardiac cells, allowing researchers to observe how the heart's mechanical and electrical functions change during the developmental process.

Source: University of Massachusetts Amherst

Many companies are now developing isothermal genetic tests that can diagnose a wide array of respiratory diseases, sexually transmitted infections and more. These products aim to provide precise and prompt diagnostic information, enabling people to quickly seek appropriate medical treatment. Source: Nature

UMass Chan Medical School researchers have documented a phenomenon that had confounded clinicians: Some people persistently test positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, on rapid home antigen tests despite obtaining concurrent negative PCR tests. Source: Medical Xpress

"We didn't," says Dr. Carlo Pierpaoli, chief of the NIH's laboratory on quantitative medical imaging. The NIH study was larger, Pierpaoli says, and used a control group that was better matched — in terms of age, profession, and location — to the group being studied. It also was designed to produce highly consistent results.

Source: NPR

Carlo Pierpaoli, lead author on the neuroimaging study, said while there is no evidence of brain injury on the MRIs, it is still possible that those reporting AHIs “may be experiencing the results of an event that led to their symptoms, but the injury did not produce the long-term neuroimaging changes that are typically observed after severe trauma or stroke.”

Source: The Hill

The absence of signs of brain injuries does not rule out the possibility of an external adverse event causing the symptoms, said Carlo Pierpaoli, the lead author on the neuroimaging paper.

Source: Washington Post

After adjusting for multiple comparisons, no differences in MRI measures of brain structureopens in a new tab or window or function emerged between individuals with AHIs and matched controls, reported Carlo Pierpaoli, MD, PhD, of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering in Bethesda, Maryland, and co-authors in JAMA.

Source: MedPage Today

“We hope these results will alleviate concerns about AHIs being associated with severe neurodegenerative changes in the brain,” says Carlo Pierpaoli, chief of the Laboratory on Quantitative Medical Imaging at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.

Source: Science

Researchers have developed a new catheter-based device that combines two powerful optical techniques to image the dangerous plaques that can build up inside the arteries that supply blood to the heart. By providing new details about plaque, the device could help clinicians and researchers improve treatments for preventing heart attacks and strokes.

Source: Optica Publishing Group

Using a circuit-based system, scientists determined the ideal transcription factor levels to promote the successful reprogramming of fibroblasts into induced pluripotent stem cells.