Heavy water tests body water
A drink of heavy water provides a quick and simple measurement of body water
Read article: Magnetic resonance sees the heart beat
Magnetic resonance sees the heart beat
Ultrasound is commonly used to look at the heart, but it is unsuitable for the 10-20% of the population that have breathing difficulties (emphysema) or who are medically obese. In both techniques, pat...
Heat can produce ultrasound
Currently most ultrasound devices convert an electrical signal directly into mechanical vibrations through the piezoelectric effect. But these devices only operate over a narrow frequency range and ha...
Read article: Biomedical optics
Biomedical optics
Recent advances in lasers, optics and information technology will make biomedical imaging faster and cheaper, and will also reduce the need for surgery
DNA is a semiconductor
Fink and Schönenberger made their measurements by placing discrete amounts of DNA molecules in a water-based solution. A tiny droplet of the solution was then placed onto a gold-coated carbon foi...
Small melanin particles cause skin cancer
The radiation causes the eumelanin to generate large quantities of free oxygen radicals, which in turn damage cell DNA and hence may lead to cancer. His research was reported yesterday at the annual A...
Measuring the conductivity of blood
Doctors need to measure blood conductivity to calculate the internal pump volume of the heart and the blood circulation rate. However, when patients receive additional fluids – for example, wate...
Physics solves blood vessel mystery
Experiments on the effect have been performed by introducing a compound called angiotensin II into the blood stream of a rat. This compound narrows the diameter of the blood vessels, which increases t...
New tools for brain surgery
Unlike other instruments, the invention does not require any sharp blades or cumbersome power sources (such as those needed for ultrasound devices) in the operating theatre. Instead, a small paddle ro...
Complexity holds thekey to predicting epileptic seizures
In a process called electroencephalogram (EEG), brain activity is measured by strapping electrodes to the scalp. The electrodes record weak electrical waves produced from different parts of the brain ...
