A way to listen in on the communications of individual cells. I wonder if it is better than nanowires?
http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=71054&CultureCode=en
A mini-laboratory that makes it possible, among other things, to study
how brain cells in stroke patients are affected by lack of oxygen is
being developed by a research team at Luleå University of Technology
(LTU) in Sweden. Lab on a Chip is what the scientists are calling their
mini-lab, which is expected to facilitate studies of all sorts of
biological cells and how they are affected by different medicines,
chemical substances, etc.
The researchers in medical technology
at Luleå University of Technology have wind in their sails. New
technological solutions are needed to help meet Europe’s rapidly growing
needs for healthcare.
The development of the mini-lab Lab on a
Chip is one of 22 projects being pursued within the framework of the
Center for Medical Technology and Physics, CMTF, a joint initiative
involving Luleå University of Technology and Umeå University.
Professor
Olof Lindahl and his research associate Kerstin Ramser in Luleå are
developing a so-called micro-flow system to study, for instance, how
the vital oxygen-bearing protein neuroglobin, which is found in brain
cells, is affected by the lack of oxygen that occurs in stroke.
Neuroglobin
was discovered in 2000 by a German research team and occurs primarily
in brain cells. Overproduction of neuroglobin in the brains of mice has
been shown to mitigate the consequences of damage relating to oxygen
deficiency in stroke.
“Today there are no really good methods
for studying how individual cells signal under oxygen-poor conditions,”
says Kerstin Ramser. “One advantage of the new technology we use is
that it is now possible to select and isolate specific cells in a
controlled environment.”
The Lab on a Chip that the Luleå
researchers have produced measures 2 X 6 cm and fits on the specimen
glass of a microscope. This makes it possible to reduce the size of the
sample, in blood analysis, for example.
“What we are studying
is the electrophysiological activity of brain cells, that is, their
capacity to communicate with other cells under oxygen-poor and entirely
oxygen-free conditions,” says Kerstin Ramser.
To be able to
study how brain cells are affected by stroke, researchers pump fluids
with varying levels of oxygen content into channels in the mini-lab.
The channels are extremely small, corresponding to one third of the
thickness of a hair. Once the fluid has been pumped into the system,
the cell sample is introduced. With the help of optical tweezers, which
use laser beams to capture and move cells, the scientists can select
and isolate a specific cell in order to study how it behaves in various
oxygen mixtures.
“Enhance the quality of care today is largely
a matter of developing new technologies that help us advance our
knowledge of the major diseases, such as cancer, stroke, or
Parkinson’s,” says Kerstin Ramser.
There are some 8 professors
and 20-25 researchers in the field of medical technology at Luleå
University of Technology today. Much of the medical technology research
conducted at Luleå University of Technology is done together with
researchers from Umeå University in an interdisciplinary collaboration
where Luleå provides the technological expertise and Umeå the medical
competence.
The research center CMTF involves not only the two
universities but also the Norrbotten and Västerbotten County Councils,
companies, and researchers from Sweden, Japan, Germany, Spain, and other
countries. They develop products and services for more secure
healthcare.
Their work is partly funded by EU Goal2. A
researcher-owned company for developing businesses, financed by the
County Administrations, Innovation Bridge North, LTU Holding, Uminova
Innovation, and the parties involved, is tied to the Center.
No comments:
Post a Comment