Tag Archives: cell

Researchers create spinal cord connectors from human stem cells, heralding breakthrough

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It's taken many years and more than a bit of brainpower, but researchers at the University of Central Florida have finally found a way to create neuromuscular connectors between muscle and spinal cord cells, using only stem cells. Led by bioengineer James Hickman, the team pulled off the feat with help from Brown University Professor Emeritus Herman Vandenburgh, who collected muscle stem cell samples from adult volunteers. After close examination, they then discovered that under the right conditions, these samples could be combined with spinal cord cells to form connectors, or neuromuscular junctions, which the brain uses to control the body's muscles. UCF's engineers say the technique, described in the December issue of the journal Biomaterials, marks a major breakthrough for the development of "human-on-a-chip" models -- systems that simulate organ functions and have the potential to drastically accelerate medical research and drug development. These junctions could also pay dividends for research on Lou Gehrig's disease or spinal cord injuries, though it remains unclear whether we can expect to see these benefits anytime soon.

Researchers create spinal cord connectors from human stem cells, heralding breakthrough originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Researchers create spinal cord connectors from human stem cells, heralding breakthrough

Posted on by
It's taken many years and more than a bit of brainpower, but researchers at the University of Central Florida have finally found a way to create neuromuscular connectors between muscle and spinal cord cells, using only stem cells. Led by bioengineer James Hickman, the team pulled off the feat with help from Brown University Professor Emeritus Herman Vandenburgh, who collected muscle stem cell samples from adult volunteers. After close examination, they then discovered that under the right conditions, these samples could be combined with spinal cord cells to form connectors, or neuromuscular junctions, which the brain uses to control the body's muscles. UCF's engineers say the technique, described in the December issue of the journal Biomaterials, marks a major breakthrough for the development of "human-on-a-chip" models -- systems that simulate organ functions and have the potential to drastically accelerate medical research and drug development. These junctions could also pay dividends for research on Lou Gehrig's disease or spinal cord injuries, though it remains unclear whether we can expect to see these benefits anytime soon.

Researchers create spinal cord connectors from human stem cells, heralding breakthrough originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Medical Xpress  |  sourceScience Direct  | Email this | Comments

Researchers create spinal cord connectors from human stem cells, heralding breakthrough

Posted on by
It's taken many years and more than a bit of brainpower, but researchers at the University of Central Florida have finally found a way to create neuromuscular connectors between muscle and spinal cord cells, using only stem cells. Led by bioengineer James Hickman, the team pulled off the feat with help from Brown University Professor Emeritus Herman Vandenburgh, who collected muscle stem cell samples from adult volunteers. After close examination, they then discovered that under the right conditions, these samples could be combined with spinal cord cells to form connectors, or neuromuscular junctions, which the brain uses to control the body's muscles. UCF's engineers say the technique, described in the December issue of the journal Biomaterials, marks a major breakthrough for the development of "human-on-a-chip" models -- systems that simulate organ functions and have the potential to drastically accelerate medical research and drug development. These junctions could also pay dividends for research on Lou Gehrig's disease or spinal cord injuries, though it remains unclear whether we can expect to see these benefits anytime soon.

Researchers create spinal cord connectors from human stem cells, heralding breakthrough originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Medical Xpress  |  sourceScience Direct  | Email this | Comments

Researchers create spinal cord connectors from human stem cells, heralding breakthrough

Posted on by
It's taken many years and more than a bit of brainpower, but researchers at the University of Central Florida have finally found a way to create neuromuscular connectors between muscle and spinal cord cells, using only stem cells. Led by bioengineer James Hickman, the team pulled off the feat with help from Brown University Professor Emeritus Herman Vandenburgh, who collected muscle stem cell samples from adult volunteers. After close examination, they then discovered that under the right conditions, these samples could be combined with spinal cord cells to form connectors, or neuromuscular junctions, which the brain uses to control the body's muscles. UCF's engineers say the technique, described in the December issue of the journal Biomaterials, marks a major breakthrough for the development of "human-on-a-chip" models -- systems that simulate organ functions and have the potential to drastically accelerate medical research and drug development. These junctions could also pay dividends for research on Lou Gehrig's disease or spinal cord injuries, though it remains unclear whether we can expect to see these benefits anytime soon.

Researchers create spinal cord connectors from human stem cells, heralding breakthrough originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Medical Xpress  |  sourceScience Direct  | Email this | Comments

Device and Method for Producing Optically-Controlled Incremental Time Delays

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Summary:

Generating precise and reliable true time delays (TTDs) is of paramount importance for phased array radars and a host of other applications. True time delay avoids beam squint in wideband antenna systems. Researchers at The Ohio State University have developed a free-space optical TTD device that can provide many bits of delay (more than 15 bits) for hundreds of antenna elements in ultra-compact form (half a cubic foot) with delays varying from femtoseconds to tens of nanoseconds. The invention uses a single MEMS chip, free space for massive overlapping of beam space, and a handful of mirrors. A programmable tapped delay line has many other uses, including optical correlation, optical matched filtering, optical signal processing, optical code-division multiple access coding and decoding, photonic analog-to-digital conversion, and optical communications performance monitoring. A variation of the device can also be used for optical interconnections and routers. Electronically implementing TTDs is generally impractical because of the need for many long lengths of strip line, waveguides, or coaxial cable, which are expensive, bulky, and temperature sensitive. Since long path lengths are relatively easy to obtain optically, optical TTD systems have been developed, either using fibers or free-space paths, but these existing systems are expensive and bulky due to the use of multiple optical switches. Researchers at The Ohio State University have developed a free-space optical TTD device that uses only one optical switch or spatial light modulator for the entire system instead of one or more switches for each bit, as in previous systems. Furthermore, the device avoids beam-spreading problems that may be present in other free-space systems by using a multiple-pass optical cell with refocusing mirrors. As a result, the device is more inexpensive, compact, and temperature insensitive than existing devices.

Potential Applications:

  • Optical multiplexing/demultiplexing applications
  • Optical routing and switching
  • Phased array radars
  • Optical signal processing
  • Optical performance monitoring

Advantages:

  • Uses only one optical switch or spatial light modulator
  • Ultra-compact form factor
  • Small component count