We may see medical and environmental diagnostics on plastic chips the size of flash cards in the near future. In a story for MIT News, Jennifer Chu reports on how microfluidic technology, which is also known as lab-on-a-chip technology, could be used to shrink analytical power into a handheld device so that analyses can be [...]
Biodegradable Polymer Stents Get Thumbs-Up
April 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Newer drug-eluting stents that contain a biodegradable polymer have a lower risk for complications than first-generation drug-eluting stents which contain a permanent polymer, reported medical journalist Michael O’Riordan of heartwire on Friday, March 30 (if the link doesn’t work, try copying and pasting “Solid four-year safety and efficacy data with biodegradable-polymer DES” into Google). The [...]
Overhaul FDA’s Oversight of Medical Devices, Urges Consumer Reports
April 3, 2012 By 2 Comments
Consumer Reports doesn’t have much faith in the safety testing of medical devices. As described in a press release, a report issued on Wednesday, March 28 by the organization raised concerns about the regulatory oversight that goes into medical devices. It cited examples such as the Lap-Band weight-loss device, metal hip replacements, and certain cardiac devices where [...]
FDA Won’t Ban BPA
April 2, 2012 By 4 Comments
On Friday, March 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rejected a call to ban the plastic additive bisphenol A from food packaging. The agency took this action after federal researchers couldn’t find sufficient evidence that people are being harmed by BPA. The call had come from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The [...]
Plastic Money Gains in Canada
March 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Canadians have really taken to plastic money. Last year, Canada introduced $100 bills made out of plastic. At the beginning of this week, the country added on plastic $50 bills. The $20 bill will be introduced later this year, and the $10 and $5 bills will make their debuts by the end of 2013, according [...]
Converting an Abundant Polymer Into Carbon Fibers
March 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Polyethylene from plastic bags could be turned into valuable carbon fibers, thanks to a process developed by scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). In a paper published in Advanced Materials on Tuesday, March 27, Amit Naskar and colleagues described a way to make carbon fibers specifically tailored for different applications. Among other things, carbon [...]
Like Human Skin, New Plastic Heals Itself When Wounded
March 28, 2012 By 1 Comment
At the American Chemical Society’s National Meeting & Exposition this week in San Diego, researchers described a novel type of plastic that has a property of human skin. The plastics can heal scratches and cuts so they may be useful as self-repairing materials on cell phones, laptops, cars, and other consumer products. The plastics change [...]
Polymer Traps Nicotine
August 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment
There’s a new polymer out there ready to grab nicotine, the addictive molecule in tobacco, and its kin. Researchers in Poland and the U.S. have designed that polymer so that it can be used to make sensitive and selective chemical sensors to measure nicotine in solutions, and, some day, in gases. The polymer is designed [...]
BPA Exposure Through Paper Money
August 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Next time you decline a cash register receipt, you may be saving yourself from exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), a potentially toxic substance found in plastics, thermal paper, and other products. Researchers in the U.S. have found that when people put receipts near paper money in billfolds, purses, and pockets, they unwittingly transfer BPA from [...]
Tiny Electronic Skin Patch as Medical Device
August 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Someday, a patient’s vital signs like temperature and heart rate will be simple to monitor with a medical device that is a tiny, wireless patch, and looks somewhat like a temporary tattoo. As reported by the Associated Press via The Washington Post, a team led by John A. Rogers at the University of Illinois have [...]
