No way currently exists to prevent or cure hydrocephalus, which is the abnormal accumulation of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) in the brain. The most effective treatment involves surgical insertion of a ...
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Fiber optic probes can be used for spectroscopic measurement of tissue. A fiber optic tube emits light on one side of the tissue that is absorbed and measured on the other side by fiber optic detector...
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Many human diseases and conditions can be treated by implanting devices within the body. However, these devices may be rejected by the body’s immune system or “fouled” by the accumulation of bac...
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CREB is a transcription factor that has been implicated as a critical regulator of neuronal function and survival. Knockout mice lacking CREB exhibit a disease similar to ataxia telangiectasia, a neur...
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Light-based diagnostics are used to create images of human tissue to detect the development of diseases like cancer. The popularity of light-based diagnostics is growing due to their non-intrusive nat...
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As many as one in 20 people in the United States are estimated to have some form of cerebral aneurysm. The majority of cerebral aneurysms are treated from inside the blood vessel, which is referred to...
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The liver is a common site for both primary and metastasizing cancer. Surgical resection, the preferred treatment for liver cancer, is a time consuming procedure during which the surgeon must cut thro...
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Liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the world and is frequently fatal.  Surgical resection currently is the preferred treatment for liver cancer.  During the time-consuming treatment, a ...
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Biomaterial scaffolds for tissue engineering perform three primary functions.  They provide temporary support, provide a connected porosity to enhance tissue regeneration and guide the regenerated ti...
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Epileptogenesis, or the occurrence of spontaneous seizures, is considered to be a learned response due to brain plasticity.  The development of the condition requires circuits in the brain to possess...
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Musculoskeletal conditions cost an estimated $254 billion each year in the United States, and bone and joint diseases account for half of all chronic conditions in adults over the age of 50.  Bone-te...
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The inflammatory response plays a role in illnesses from injury to infections to allergies.  Initiation of inflammation involves the activation of immune cells that trigger a cascade of events leadin...
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Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy can be used to measure tissue absorption and scattering, which reflect the intrinsic physiological and structural properties of tissue respectively. This technique can...
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Electrodes placed deep within the brain can deliver electrical impulses directly to nerve centers for the treatment of movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and dystonia. The electrodes mus...
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Thin films and coatings that allow the sustained release of DNA from surfaces play an important role in the development of localized approaches to gene therapy. For example, polymer-coated intravascul...
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The early detection of disease or malignancy can greatly increase the probability of full recovery, especially in the case of cancers.  Optical diagnostic techniques, such as diffuse reflectance and ...
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The tongue loses strength as a result of aging, illness or injury, often resulting in loss of swallowing capacity (dysphagia) that in turn may lead to malnutrition, dehydration or pneumonia. NIH-funde...
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Electrodes inserted into the brain can be used to monitor and record neural activity. However, conventional electrode arrays have several limitations, including a short functional life.
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Cerebral aneurysms develop when the wall of a cerebral artery becomes weakened and the blood vessel balloons. Intracranial aneurysms are estimated to affect between three and six percent of the adult ...
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Brain-computer interface (BCI) technology has the potential to create new treatments for severe motor impairment.  Devices to acquire signals from the brain are essential components of BCI systems. ...
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More than five million people in the United States are afflicted with chronic skin wounds, resulting in billions of dollars in medical expenses each year. The incidence of chronic wounds is expected t...
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Just as two points may appear closer in two-dimensional space than they actually are in three dimensions, it is difficult to tell under multiple dimensions how similar two points are. To sort data wit...
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Phsyicians often use microscopic visual inspection followed by biopsy to detect cancer; however, this method is limited in many ways. Optical techniques are a promising alternative that allows clinici...
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Biodegradable scaffolds with highly interconnected pores are potentially useful in tissue engineering. A rigid, highly porous platform could be used to guide growth in tissues such as bone, cartilage ...
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As use of real-time diagnostic ultrasound scanning has increased, work-related injury has become epidemic among medical sonographers and echocardiographers. Approximately 80 percent of sonographers re...
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