Tag Archives: Pharmaceuticals
Amazon acquires another healthcare start-up for its Amazon Care program
Amazon puts former Kindle leader in charge of its pharmacy business
MIT researchers automate drug design with machine learning
3D printers could let you produce your own drugs
Old drug gets an absurd price hike to $89,000 per year
Why is Johnson & Johnson getting into startups?
ISS experiment will investigate how pills dissolve in space
Pharmaceutical Researchers Use Levitation To Develop Better Drugs
Watch the video.
OMGWTF!! Amirite?
But maybe you’re wondering what’s going on. Well, it seems researchers at the Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago are looking into ways of developing more efficient drugs. Specifically, they want to make more precisely calibrated drugs that would still deliver their therapeutic benefits while requiring less of the drug being taken. As part of this process, they have to evaporate the solvent that contains the active molecules while avoiding these taking up a crystalline form, as this yields a less efficient product. But if they mix the ingredients in a regular vessel (like a beaker), crystals are much more likely to form during the evaporation process (think of snowflake crystals forming only around dust particles). So they turned to “to an acoustic levitator, a piece of equipment originally developed for NASA to simulate microgravity conditions.”
Two small speakers to generate sound waves at frequencies slightly above the audible range – roughly 22 kilohertz. When the top and bottom speakers are precisely aligned, they create two sets of sound waves that perfectly interfere with each other, setting up a phenomenon known as a standing wave.
At certain points along a standing wave, known as nodes, there is no net transfer of energy at all. Because the acoustic pressure from the sound waves is sufficient to cancel the effect of gravity, light objects are able to levitate when placed at the nodes.
Crystals form when touching a surface? No problem: let’s get rid of the surface! Clearly you can only do this to small amounts at a time, so it’s more of an analytical tool than one intended to be used in mass production.
[ Full Article With Details ] VIA [ GeeksAreSexy ]
FDA approves Proteus Digital Health’s e-pills for dose monitoring
An "ingestible sensor" doesn't sound like the tastiest of snacks, but soon it might be just what the doctor ordered. A tiny microchip which activates upon contact with stomach acid has recently been given the green light by health regulatory agencies in the US and Europe. When the sensor is swallowed, an external patch picks up its signal and shoots a message over to whoever it's supposed to. The technology is aimed at tackling an issue known in the healthcare biz as compliance -- or, following instructions. Correct timing and dose are important for many drugs, and lax schedules can be responsible for treatment failures or the development of nasty drug-resistant bugs. Although the necessary trials used placebo pills, one pharmaceutical heavyweight has already bagged a license to the technology for real-world applications. If the thought of passing microchips is troubling you more than the thought of eating them, no need to worry -- the kamikaze sensors dissolve in your stomach shortly after completing their mission.
Continue reading FDA approves Proteus Digital Health's e-pills for dose monitoring
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FDA approves Proteus Digital Health's e-pills for dose monitoring originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 17:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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