Cancer detection from an implantable, flexible LED

A KAIST research team has developed a new type of biocompatible and bendable GaN LED biosensor

2011-09-19

(Press-News.org) Daejeon, the Republic of Korea, August 8, 2011—Can a flexible LED conformably placed on the human heart, situated on the corrugated surface of the human brain, or rolled upon the blood vessels, diagnose or even treat various diseases? These things might be a reality in the near future.

The team of Professor Keon Jae Lee (Department of Materials Science and Engineering, KAIST) has developed a new concept: a biocompatible, flexible Gallium Nitride (GaN) LED that can detect prostate cancer.

GaN LED, a highly efficient light emitting device, has been commercialized in LED TVs and in the lighting industry. Until now, it has been difficult to use this semiconductor material to fabricate flexible electronic systems due to its brittleness. The research team, however, has succeeded in developing a highly efficient, flexible GaN LED and in detecting cancer using a flexible LED biosensor.

Prof. Lee was involved in the first co-invention of "High Performance Flexible Single Crystal GaN" during his PhD course at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). This flexible GaN LED biosensor utilized a similar protocol to transfer thin GaN LED films onto flexible substrates, followed by a biocompatible packaging process; the system's overall potential for use in implantable biomedical applications was demonstrated.

Professor John Roger (Department of Materials Science and Engineering, UIUC) said,

"Bio-integrated LEDs represent an exciting, new technology with strong potential to address important challenges in human health. This present work represents a very nice contribution to this emerging field."

INFORMATION:

This paper was published in the online issue of Nano Energy Elsevier Journal (Editor, Prof. Zhong Lin Wang) dated September 16, 2011.

For a video on "Flexible GaN LED for Implantable Biomedical Applications," please refer to Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE0C5rCl-4I

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Patient complaints allege doctors fail to disclose risks

2011-09-19

In more than 70 per cent of legal disputes over informed consent, patients allege the doctor failed to properly explain the risks of complications, a University of Melbourne study published in the latest Medical Journal of Australia has found. Professor David Studdert from the Melbourne School of Population Health and Melbourne Law School and co-authors reviewed nearly 2000 negligence claims against doctors insured by Avant Mutual Group Limited and complaints lodged with the Health Services Commissioner of Victoria between January 2002 and December 2008. The authors ...

Uncertain climate models impair long-term climate strategies

2011-09-19

A new paper published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, explains weaknesses in our understanding of climate change and how we can fix them. These issues mean predictions vary wildly about how quickly temperatures will rise. This has serious implications for long term political and economic planning. The papers lead author is Dr Nigel Fox of The National Physical Laboratory, The UK's National Measurement Institution. The Earth's climate is undoubtedly changing, but how fast and what the implications will be are unclear. Our most reliable models rely ...

Queen's pioneers prostate cancer breakthrough

2011-09-19

Scientists at Queen's University have pioneered a new combination treatment for prostate cancer. The treatment, which has been successful in phase one of trials, will now be tested for efficacy in a second phase. The treatment, aimed at men with an advanced and aggressive form of prostate cancer which has spread to the bone, is the first of its kind to be developed. It combines traditional chemotherapy treatments with two doses of a radioactive chemical which can target areas of the bone affected by prostate cancer. Aggressive and advanced prostate cancer is responsible ...

New approach for university and community engagement

2011-09-19

Current policy pressures on universities to focus on improving their research excellence and to widen participation make it hard for them to engage meaningfully with excluded communities, according to research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). University-community engagement remains marginal to the organisation, funding, management and strategic control of universities. This reduces their benefits for excluded communities. "Traditionally, universities have regarded excluded communities with an air of detached benevolence," says Dr Paul Benneworth ...

Technology funding makes climate protection cheaper

2011-09-19

To cost‑effectively protect the climate, not only an emissions trading scheme but also financial support for new technologies is needed. Economising on targeted funding, for example for renewable energies, makes climate protection more expensive ‑ as scientists of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) now calculated for the first time, using a complex computer simulation that spans the entire 21st century. Without funding, energy technologies with high cost reduction potentials will hardly stand a chance, ...

Monitoring patients using intelligent T-shirts

2011-09-19

Using this garment-based patient biomonitoring platform allows us to register a number of the patient's physiological parameters in a non-intrusive manner. "The information gathered by an intelligent t-shirt using e-textile technology is sent, without using wires, to an information management system, which then shows the patient's location and vital signs in real time", explain the UC3M researchers. The system is designed to be used in hospitals and can be divided into two parts: the fixed infrastructure, which would be pre-installed in the hospital, and the mobile units, ...

Fort Mason Center Creates Interactive Visitor Experience with Guide by Cell Suite of Mobile Services

2011-09-19

For the first time, a major cultural institution is leveraging four Guide by Cell mobile technologies to provide a wide range of interactive choices for the visitor experience. This summer, San Francisco's Fort Mason Center launched the year-long "SEAT" exhibition featuring over 30 Bay Area artists, each creating their own interpretation of a "seat." SEAT is the first exhibition in the country to integrate the full Guide by Cell suite of mobile services. The SEAT works, built by local architects, concrete designers, blacksmiths, woodworkers, ...

Observed 'live': Water is an active team player for enzymes

2011-09-19

In biologically active enzyme substrate compounds, as can be found in medicines, water plays a more decisive role than has been imagined up to now. The surrounding water acts like an "adhesive", in order to keep the substrate at the right place on an enzyme. For this, the dynamism of the water is retarded. Scientists at the RUB under Prof. Dr. Martina Havenith (Physical Chemistry) in close cooperation with the group of Prof. Irit Sagi from the Israeli Weizmann Institute have been able to observe and prove the retardation of the water's dynamism "live" for the first time ...

Do the Benefits of Premium Knee Implants Outweigh Extra Costs?

2011-09-19

Premium knee implants, such as high-flexion knees were created to address specific patient needs and to promote additional function. But whether these higher cost devices provide greater longevity than their standard lower-cost counterparts remains to be seen in the medical literature. Studies that have evaluated the functional results of premium vs. standard implants have demonstrated similar results between the prostheses. Since the Zimmer NexGen knee replacement system has been on the market, almost half a million people in the US alone have had Zimmer knee implants. ...

New imaging technique visualizes cancer during surgery

2011-09-19

Ovarian cancer is one of the most frequent forms of cancer that affect women. As tumors can initially grow unchecked in the abdomen without causing any major symptoms, patients are usually diagnosed at an advanced stage and have to undergo surgery plus chemotherapy. During the operation, surgeons attempt to remove all tumor deposits as this leads to improved patient prognosis. To do this, however, they primarily have to rely on visual inspection and palpation - an enormous challenge especially in the case of small tumor nests or remaining tumor borders after the primary ...

Cancer detection from an implantable, flexible LED

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: