The Latest in Nanotech
Nanotechnology deals with the manipulation of matter at an atomic level, and thus can be applied in many scientific fields. With the advancements in technology, the study of nanotechnology is reaching new heights and is proving to be a viable answer to many problems. The following lines are going to be about how nanotechnology could one day improve the lives of millions of people around the world.
Hairbrush Nanofibers
You might already know that polymer nanofiber is used in multiple applications that range from fabrication of artificial organs and bones to being used in water purification systems. According to the online edition of Advanced Materials, a team of researchers from the University of Georgia, Oxford and Princeton have come up with a way of developing single filament nanofibers from polymer solutions that are rotating on a round brush.
According to one of the researchers, this method can be used to produce 3D tissue scaffolds simply by winding the nanofibers on to spools of different dimensions or depositing cells of interest simultaneously. This new method is called touch spinning and gives the scientists excellent control over the diameter of the fiber. And the method can easily be scaled up according to the requirements. According to the scientists, the brush filaments can draw many fibers and produce miles of fibers in mere minutes.
Early Detection of Tuberculosis
TB is a widespread infection and most commonly affects the lungs, but also attacks other body parts as well. While a typical test for TB includes the culturing of samples for at least a week, which is then followed by multiple examinations, a group of researchers from Clemson University and the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning have come up with a novel way to decrease the waiting time exponentially.
According to the researchers, the development of a portable and flexible nanosensor for the diagnosis of early warning signs of TB is in the works, but what makes this news even more exciting is the fact that the technology will be using a smartphone for detection. The somewhat inexpensive biosensors are fabricated by coating thin films of silver and fullerenes. In the sensors, the isotropic fluorescence from dye-stained bacteria can be coupled to the cellulose substrate by using surface plasmons. The intensity of the emission which is recorded by the nanotechnology cell phone is able to provide useful information on both the density of bacteria, thus giving the scientists an idea of the stage of infection.
New Cell Sorters Shrink Cell Phone Size
For years microfluidic cell sorters are being used as a promising new way to sequence single cells and for drug screening. But, most of the devices can only operate at a few hundred cells per second, which is far too slow to be compared to the commercially used devices which are able to operate in the order of tens of thousands per second.
Now, researchers at the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Penn State have found a way to sort around 3,000 cells per second and according to the researchers that number can increase to around 13,000 cells per second, which is a far better number than what the microfluidic cell sorter is able to achieve currently. And that’s not all, since the device has been built on a lab-on-a chip system it is inexpensive and compact. According to some estimates, building the new sorter from scratch only costs around the same as a mid-range cell phone.
Bottom Line
Never in our wildest dreams that we imagine that we would be able to do the things we can do today thanks to nanotechnology. While the developments of the nanotechnology cell phone which can detect TB hairbrush nanofibers is incredible, who knows what nanotechogy has in store for us next.
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