“This is the first time an ion pump has been tested as a possible method to treat malignant brain tumours. We used cancer cells in the lab, and the results are extremely promising. However, it will probably take five to ten years before we see this new technology used in treatments for brain tumours”, said Daniel Simon, associate professor at the Laboratory of Organic Electronics at the Department of Science and Technology at Linköping University.
Surgical removal of brain tumours often leaves small parts of the tumour behind, which can require chemotherapy to stop the cancer recurring.
In order to reach the brain, chemotherapy drugs must first spread through the circulatory system and then pass through the blood-brain barrier. The walls of the small blood vessels in the brain are much less permeable than blood vessels in the rest of the body and can prevent many substances in the blood entering the brain.
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IMAGE: An ion pump can deliver cytostatics more accurately in the brain, which gives less severe adverse effects in chemotherapy. view more
Credit: Thor Balkhed
Despite surgery and subsequent treatment with chemotherapy and radiation, the majority of patients experience recurrence of malignant brain tumours. Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, and the Medical University of Graz, Austria, have shown in cells in culture that an ion pump can deliver drugs more accurately, which gives less severe adverse effects in chemotherapy. The results have been published in Advanced Materials Technologies. This is the first time an ion pump has been tested as a possible method to treat malignant brain tumours. We used cancer cells in the lab, and the results are extremely promising. However, it will probably take five to ten years before we see this new technology used in treatments for brain tumours , says Daniel Simon, associate professor at the Laboratory of Or
Credit: Thor Balkhed
Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, have developed biosensors that make it possible to monitor sugar levels in real time deep in the plant tissues - something that has previously been impossible. The information from the sensors may help agriculture to adapt production as the world faces climate change. The results have been published in the scientific journal
iScience.
The primary source of nutrition for most of the Earth s population is mainly plants, which are also the foundation of the complete ecosystem on which we all depend. Global population is rising, and rapid climate change is at the same time changing the conditions for crop cultivation and agriculture.
Environmental News Network - Biosensors Monitor Plant Well-Being In Real Time enn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from enn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Researchers design proton trap that delivers drugs at desired location in nervous system
February 01, 2021
New technique may reduce side-effects of the drugs; in the long term, ion pumps may help patients of neurological diseases for which effective treatments are not available Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, have designed a proton trap that makes organic electronic ion pumps more precise when delivering drugs.
According to the researchers, this new technique may reduce the side-effects of the drugs. They also believe that in the long term, ion pumps may help patients with symptoms of neurological diseases for which effective treatments are not available.