Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The ShangRing Circumcision Device
A device invented by Jianzhong Shang, a Chinese inventor from Wuhu City, is poised to become not only a new generation mohel-assist device, but a major medgadget in the world wide fight to prevent HIV.
Clinicians from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center are studying the two-ring device to see its efficacy and applicability for the African population and beyond.
From the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center press release:
With the recent endorsement by the World Health Organization (WHO) and scientists worldwide of adult male circumcision as an important strategy for HIV prevention, there is increased urgency to develop safe and cost-effective circumcision services. This is especially the case in Africa where HIV/AIDS continues to spread at an epidemic rate.Studying this method are Dr. Marc Goldstein and physician-scientists at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, who are evaluating an innovative circumcision device developed in China and will initiate a study of the device in Africa in the coming months.
The device, named the ShangRing after its inventor, Mr. Jian-Zhong Shang, consists of two concentric plastic rings that sandwich the foreskin, allowing it to be cut away without suturing and with minimal bleeding. Performed in a clinic under local anesthesia, the procedure takes less than five minutes, compared with approximately 20 to 30 minutes for a traditional "free hands" circumcision that requires suturing. The patient returns in one week for device removal.
"Circumcision with this technique promises to be faster, safer and more acceptable to patients than conventional surgical circumcision methods," says Dr. Goldstein, the study's principal investigator. He is urologist and specialist in reproductive medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, the Matthew P. Hardy Distinguished Professor of Reproductive Medicine and Urology at Weill Cornell Medical College, and senior scientist at The Population Council, Center for Biomedical Research, located on the campus of The Rockefeller University.
The ShangRing has been used to circumcise several thousand Chinese men since 2005. Preliminary reports of 1,200 patients indicate good results with minimal complications. The ShangRing, with 15 patents pending in 85 countries, is currently available only in China. FDA evaluation is under way.
We tried to obtain images of this device, but unfortunately we failed. (Anyone out there can get them for us?)To further understand how the device works, attached is the United States Patent Application recently filed by Mr. Shang with USPTO.
Press release: New Male Circumcision Device for HIV Prevention Studied by NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell...
United States Patent Application # 20080154283:
Apparatus for circumcising a penis
UPDATE: Hurrah! Weill Cornell Medical College has kindly provided us with the picture of ShangRing device.
(0)
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Company Claims a Boost in IVF Rates with a New System
Ruskinn Technology of Sony Pencoed, South Wales was showing off its new Ac-tive® IVF system (Assisted Conception Total In Vitro Environment) at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology annual meeting earlier this week. The company claims that their device results in higher conception rates.
From the press release, titled "New IVF "lab in a box" increases clinical pregnancy rates by 50%":
The state-of-the-art gas controlled device mimics ‘inutero’ conditions for all IVF manipulations in a single workstation. According to Ruskinn, recent clinical trials in Denmark have demonstrated an increase in clinical pregnancy rates by up to 50% in an already successful IVF laboratory using the Ac-tive workstation.According to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the average IVF success rate (take home baby rate) for women under 35 years of age is 29.6%1. Using the Ac-tive IVF workstation, IVF clinics could potentially increase their “take home baby rate” by 50% - from a successful 29.6% to a possible 44.4%. Ac-tive results in the production of less stressed embryos, which suggests improved implantation in the uterus and ultimately increased pregnancy rates.
Replicating the entire in-utero environment in a single, controlled-atmosphere workstation, Ac-tive delivers a stable, optimal atmosphere which simulates the environment of the human body and creates optimal conditions for embryo
culture. This means all IVF procedures – from oocyte retrieval through to embryo transfer, and including embryo culture and selection - take place in a single, stable biological atmosphere.The Ezee Sleeve™ Bare-hand System provides ‘hands in’ access to the workstation, enabling all processes to be carried out without disturbing the carefully controlled environment.
Product page: Ac-tive® IVF System...
(0)
Friday, May 30, 2008
INVOcell Fertility Device Approved in Europe
BioXcell out of Beverly, MA has received approval in the EU to market its fertility assist device called INVOcell. The device, an incubator designed to hold a postfertilization oocyte(s), is placed into the maternal vaginal cavity. The idea is to replace the artificial in vitro fertilization (IVF) lab with a natural maternal environment to optimize early embryo development inside the INVOcell device.
From the press release:
According to Claude Ranoux, M.D., President and Chief Scientist of BioXcell, "INVOcell allows conception and embryo development to take place inside the woman's body, making having a baby simpler and less expensive, while promoting more involvement by the woman. Our device, the INVOcell, and the INVO procedure, are less expensive and simpler to perform than conventional in vitro fertilization."Dr. Ranoux added, "The INVO procedure uses a lower stimulation approach to produce eggs for fertilization. Eggs are combined with sperm in the INVOcell device and placed in the woman's vaginal cavity where it remains for 3 days. This step eliminates the need for a complex IVF laboratory and allows the woman's body to provide the nurturing environment in which conception and early embryo development take place."
Product page: INVOcell
Abstract: INVO: a simple, low cost effective assisted reproductive technology Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/den163
Flashbacks: IVF Minus The Test Tube Goes On Trial
(0)
Thursday, February 28, 2008
IVF Minus The Test Tube Goes On Trial
The Times of London is reporting that British doctors will be testing the safety and effectiveness of a new IVF procedure which lets eggs develop inside the womb rather than a test tube. According to the Times, the Care Fertility unit in Nottingham is "recruiting 40 women for the world's first clinical trial of the procedure, which intends to transform infertility treatment by exploiting the natural environment in which embryos develop." The device tested in the study is an intrauterine incubator featuring cell encapsulation technology developed by the Swiss company Anecova SA, that was profiled by us back in December. So it is nice to know that at least some of these technologies are being taken seriously by others, and not just by us.
Times Online: IVF trial gives embryos a natural start in life...
Flashback to refresh our memories: Anecova IVF Technology: Where IVF Means In Vivo
(0)
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Control Your Sperm with A Digital Vas Deferens
If you're at your desk, please finish your drink before reading on... That's right gents, mad scientist Said Al-Sarawi will either be laughed out of the scientific community or be carried on the shoulders of frat boys as he accepts his Nobel Prize for developing the first digital sperm control device. Al-Sarawi and his team have finished their work on a synthetic valve that could be remotely opened or closed depending on your reproductive needs.
The device is placed inside the vas deferens -- the duct which carries sperm from each testicle to the penis. When closed, it blocks the flow of sperm cells, allowing them to pass again when it is opened via a remote control. The valve could be a switchable alternative to vasectomy, the researchers say.Although women can choose from several long-term contraceptive methods, for men vasectomy is really the only option. With this procedure, the vasa deferentia are cut or blocked, a process that requires surgery and can require a week of recovery. The procedure cannot be reliably reversed, leaving some men to later regret their decision.
Now, a team from the University of Adelaide, Australia, may have come up with a more easily reversed alternative. They have designed a small radio-controlled valve that would "push-fit" snugly inside the vas deferens and block the passage of sperm.
The silicone-polymer valve can be flipped between open and closed positions with a pulse of radio waves. A set of conducting "fingers" on the valve act as antennae and convert the signal's energy into sound waves that travel through the polymer and create stresses inside the device.
"Since it is flexible, the polymer either contracts or expands as a result, and this movement allows the valve to be opened or closed as needed," explains team leader Said Al-Sarawi.
"It will be like turning a TV on and off with a remote control," added team founder Derek Abbott, "except that the remote will probably be locked away in your local doctor's office to safeguard against accidental pregnancy or potential misuse of the device."
To secure the device against accidental activation, the device works in a similar way to a car's remote key-fob. Each valve responds only to a radio-frequency signal with a unique code.
Another advantage of the microvalve is that would not require open surgery, unlike a vasectomy. The 800 micron-long device could simply be inserted using a hypodermic needle. "The procedure could be performed in a special clinic rather than in a hospital," says Abbott.
The researchers have finished the design of all parts of the valve, and are convinced it will work effectively. The next step is to test it in the lab with a tube of pressurized water. After that, trials could begin in live sheep and pigs, they say.
Just don't forget to close your vas deferens before you start partying this weekend!
The image is from the Wellcome collection, presented under the Creative Commons License: Vas deferens muscles.
(1)
Monday, December 17, 2007
Adiana Transcervical Sterilization System Occludes Tubes; Gets FDA Nod
A pre-market application of Adiana Transcervical Sterilization System from Hologic, Inc., a Bedford, Mass company, has received an approval recommendation from the FDA Obstetrics and Gynecology Devices Advisory Panel. This minimally-invasive, non-incisional new contraception device for female sterilization works by occluding Fallopian tubes by a transcervical catheter that releases a low-level of bi-polar radio frequency ablation and a special chemical "matrix" that eventually allows the clogging of the tubes.
Here are details about the device taken from the FDA Executive Summary:
The Adiana Transcervical Sterilization System consists of three principal components:silicone matrix (one per tube);
hysteroscopic delivery catheter; and
radio-frequency (RF) generator to deliver thermal dose to tube prior to implantation. The Adiana Transcervical Sterilization System is used to place a silicone implant, called a matrix, into each fallopian tube of the female patient to effect tubal occlusion and permanent sterilization. The delivery catheter is introduced into the patient through a hysteroscope, transvaginally and transcervically. The physician will require a separate delivery catheter to place individual matrices in each of the two fallopian tubes (two delivery catheters are needed per patient since each delivery catheter contains a single matrix). A black mark on the catheter, proximal to the electrode array and matrix, is visualized to confirm correct catheter placement prior to silicone matrix delivery. Device position is confirmed by the RF generator via the position detection array.
Once placement inside the intramural section of the fallopian tube is confirmed, the distal tip of the catheter delivers RF energy to the electrode array. Thermocouples in the catheter tip are used to maintain a constant temperature of 64°C for 60 seconds (maximum of 120 seconds of treatment per tube during a single procedure in the event that a procedure is terminated due to loss of adequate tissue contact). This creates a lesion within the fallopian tube (including destruction of the endosalpinx).
After the thermal dose is delivered, the release mechanism in the catheter is then actuated to deploy the matrix in the region of the tube where the lesion was formed. The endothelial damage provided by the RF energy encourages a tissue ingrowth response (i.e., wound-healing response). The implanted matrices provide attachment sites for tissue ingrowth, which secures the matrices in place by filling the voids in the implant. The physician conducts a hysterosalpingogram (HSG) three months after matrix placement to confirm contraceptive tubal blockage.
Press release: FDA Advisory Panel Finds Hologic's Adian® Permanent Contraception Approvable ...
More from the WSJ Health Blog...
(1)
Friday, December 7, 2007
Anecova IVF Technology: Where IVF Means In Vivo
Anecova SA, a firm from Switzerland, is another recipient of the prestigious World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneer Award in Biotech/Health category. The company has developed an intrauterine device, that is essentially an incubator featuring cell encapsulation technology, that harbors and protects newly created embryos, while offering them a natural environment of the maternal uterus. The company says that preliminary study results of its device are "very encouraging."
Here's little bit more about the technology, that was co-developed with the Laboratoire d'Etude sur la Neurodégénérescence at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL):
In the ANECOVA approach, the zygotes are placed in the maternal uterine cavity over all early development stages to get the benefits of a customized and adapted environment. The injected ovocytes are directly placed in the ANECOVA device which is then placed within the uterine cavity for the desired period. Formed embryos are then recovered and after the usual selection process, the required number is transferred as in the traditional embryo transfer procedure.The first ANECOVA device thus restores the fertilization and early embryonic development phases back into the physiological environment of the maternal uterus instead of the laboratory incubator. This permits the development of the embryos in close communication and exchange with maternal factors from the very start of life.
A positive influence is expected on both the number and the individual quality of the embryos thus produced which should translate into better overall results of assisted reproduction.
Press release: The World Economic Forum announces Technology Pioneers 2008 : The Swiss Anecova selected ...
World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers 2008 ...
(0)
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
LIVE:ON - Save Sperm Away for a Brighter Day
In addition to the obvious fear and heartache, young men diagnosed with cancer are at a great risk of becoming infertile due to treatments like chemotherapy, radiation, or even surgery. Though many successfully fight the cancer, the thought of potential future children often gets ignored as focus is completely turned to the fight for survival. Now two foundations are working with a sperm bank to make sperm sampling and storage a breeze, straight from the oncologist's office.
The kits -- which will be distributed to oncology professionals nationwide starting this month -- contain the materials and instructions necessary for patients to produce a usable sperm sample at home or in the hospital. It includes a postage-paid package for fast delivery to Cryogenic Laboratories Inc., a Roseville, Minn., sperm bank, so no ice is needed for transport. Cryogenic Laboratories will charge $625 for processing and freezing the specimen for one year. The storage cost of each subsequent year -- frozen sperm can remain potent for decades -- is $280. In some cases, insurance will help defray that cost.The kit, called Live:On, is also designed to eliminate a dilemma facing some men: whether to postpone treatment while pursuing sperm preservation. Gathering information about sperm preservation -- where and how to do it, how to ship off a specimen if no bank is nearby -- can take a few days. That could delay treatment of some fast-growing cancers. Armed with the kit soon to be available in oncologists' offices, however, a patient could preserve his child-bearing options in a matter of hours.
Cryogenic Laboratories will donate an unspecified percentage of its storage fees to its two partners in the effort, the Lance Armstrong Foundation and Fertile Hope, an organization dedicated to increasing fertility options for young cancer patients. Through Fertile Hope, financially strapped patients can apply for discounts.
Read on at the WSJ's Health Journal...
UPDATE: Press release from the Lance Armstrong Foundation ...
Product page: LIVE:ON ...
(0)
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Too "Quick on the Draw?" Durex Wants You!
Now that baseball is over, what is the average male supposed to concentrate on to prolong their "time at the office?" Have no fears fellas, the fine folks at Durex have just released a line of promotional products just for you. Unfortunately, the details are a bit sketchy, but it looks like Durex created these climax postponing pillowcases to promote their new Performa Condoms which have built-in anesthetic cream to delay the inevitable.
(hat tip: Core77 Design Blog, Direct Daily)
(0)
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
VivaGel™ for STDs Shows Promise in Latest Trial
At the ongoing 4th International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, Starpharma Holdings Limited, an Australian company that has developed, and is now testing an STD-prevention gel, will report positive results from its most recent trial:
... 3% SPL7013 Gel (VivaGel™) was well-tolerated in men, and suitable for further development as a topical microbicide for the prevention of HIV and genital herpes...The study compared 36 circumcised and uncircumcised men who applied VivaGel™ (24 men) or a placebo gel (12 men) topically to their penis once daily for seven days. The trial was double blinded so that the participants, principal investigator and study staff did not know who was receiving placebo or VivaGel™.
Overall, this study demonstrated that VivaGel(TM) was safe and well tolerated, and comparable with placebo when applied to the penis of both circumcised and uncircumcised healthy male volunteers once daily for seven days, and left in place for approximately 9 hours. As seen in a previous completed clinical trial in women, there was no evidence of absorption of the active ingredient of VivaGel™, SPL7013, into the blood after topical application.
According to the company, VivaGel™ is also being explored as a condom coating, as well as a vaginal gel.
The VivaGel™, that we reported on back in Nov. 2006, is a dendrimer-based nanoformulation, which is interesting enough to be revisited again:
Dendrimers are a kind of nanotechnology.The specialised chemistry used to make dendrimers allows the chemist to control the physical and chemical properties of each dendrimer. Starpharma's synthesis of dendrimers begins with a core molecule with branching groups to which other molecules are added. Dendrimers are constructed by the successive addition of layers to the branching groups. Each new layer is called a generation. The final generation can incorporate additional active groups to tailor the functionality of the dendrimer.
The selection of core, branching and surface molecules gives the dendrimer the desired properties and functions for medical, electronic, chemical and materials applications.
In the picture above, one can see how SPL7013, the active dendrimer ingredient, binds to surface proteins on HIV, preventing the virus from infecting human T-cells.
Starpharma company page...
Press release: Starpharma Presents Positive Results of Clinical Study of VivaGel(TM) in Men at 4th International AIDS Society Conference ...
(1)
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Men Can Now Have At-Home Fertility Screening
Hey fellas, can your bullets hit the target? Can your swimmers go the distance? Are your soldiers able to go behind enemy lines? Can your sperm fertilize an egg? Thanks to recent FDA approval, in just over 80 minutes you could have the answer with this new at-home male fertility test.
A new at-home screening test, called Fertell, lets couples find out if they have fertility problems without stepping into a doctor's office. The test has his and hers components -- a screening test for men that is the first at-home device to measure the concentration of motile sperm, and a test for women that measures a hormone considered a marker of egg quality.The test for the male requires a semen sample; it assesses the ability of sperm to swim through a solution similar to cervical mucus, as well as the number able to do so, said Dr. Keith B. Isaacson, an associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School who is on the board of medical advisers at Genosis. Results are available in 80 minutes.
"Most people are surprised to hear that almost 50 percent of the time, it's a male factor," Dr. Isaacson said.
But, he added, women are still more likely to initiate treatment. "My guess is the female partner is the one who's going to buy this and encourage the guy to use it."
Fertell, which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, goes on sale today. No prescription is necessary, and it is expected to cost around $100.
NY Times...
Fertell...
Flashback: Fertell Male Fertility Home Test
(hat tip: Medical Quack)
(3)
Friday, January 26, 2007
FemSuite's FemEye One
As far as we are concerned, this is the Cadillac of intravaginal scopes: sleek, small enough for making diagnoses in the office and comes with disposable condoms sheaths to maintain cleanliness.
From the press release issued by the San Francisco company FemSuite LLC, that developed the device:
The FemEye One is the first in a line of single-use scopes that will make office procedures easier and more cost-effective for the Ob/Gyn.The FemEye One is a hand-held, portable, proprietary video camera that can be used for visualization, documentation and patient education. While the camera itself is reusable, it comes with disposable sheaths that maintain sterility from use to use, eliminating the need for costly sterilization, handling and wrapping.
It's no secret that cost is an important factor in any field, but this is especially true for Ob/Gyns. Jerry Sanders, CEO of FemSuite, pointed out, "FemSuite recognizes the need for innovative and user-friendly tools to help bring more procedures into the physician's office in order to provide for lower hospital costs, better patient experience and increased physician revenue".
The FemEye One costs the end user less than $300, which is an enormous savings compared to the several thousand dollar colposcopes and hysteroscopes that are being sold to hospitals today.
Next up for FemSuite is the FemEye Two: A disposable hysteroscope. FemSuite expects the second in its FemEye line of products to come to the FemEye cohort of physicians later this year.
Product page...
(0)
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Vagina's Molecular Armor
University of Utah researchers have developed a vaginal "molecular condom" that starts as a fluid substance to be inserted by a woman vaginally, that becomes a gel at body temperature and at the vaginal fluid pH of 4.2, and then in the presence of sperm with a pH of 7.7, it become a liquid again, only to release an antiviral drug load to block infection by the HIV.
"We have developed a new vaginal gel that we call a molecular condom because it is composed of molecules that are liquid at room temperature and, when applied in the vagina, will spread and turn into a gel and effectively coat the tissue," says Patrick Kiser, an assistant professor of bioengineering. "It's a smart molecular condom because we designed this gel to release anti-HIV drugs when the gel comes into contact with semen during intercourse.""The ultimate hope for this technology is to protect women and their unborn or nursing children from the AIDS virus," but the molecular condom is five years away from tests in humans and roughly 10 years until it might be in widespread use, Kiser says.
Kiser and colleagues report development of the molecular condom in a study to be published online Monday, Dec. 11, 2006, in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
The molecular condom is part of a worldwide research effort to develop "microbicides" -- drug-delivery systems such as gels, rings, sponges or creams to prevent infection by the human immunodeficiency virus and other sexually transmitted diseases. HIV causes AIDS, which cripples the immune system, leaving patients vulnerable to other infections, cancers and death...
The molecular condom is a polymer -- a molecule with a repeating, chain-like structure -- made from three chemicals in these proportions:
80 parts of N-isopropylacrylamide.
15 parts of butyl methacrylate, which is used in coatings, adhesives, solvents, resins, oil additives and to finish leather and paper.
Five parts acrylic acid, which is used in lubricant and spermicidal gels. "The three together have the property of liquid at room temperature and vaginal pH, solid at body temperature and vaginal pH, and liquid at body temperature and semen pH," Kiser says.
Link . . .
Abstract . . .
(3)
Friday, December 1, 2006
Spray On Condom = Instant Lovin'
The renowned German engineering that brought the world the BMW, the Audi and the Porsche is proud to present the first ever spray on condom. The only thing funnier than the idea of a spray on condom is the Google translation of the product page:
Soon there is no more reason to rather make it without. The new condom comes from the spray can and adapts to each member optimally. Cap off and condom over the Penis spray: The Latexhaut sits perfectly and is operational in few seconds.The advantages of the spray condom are obvious: it is easily and fast applicable, adapts to each Penisgrüsse and form individually and offers apart from stretcher comfort, optimal protection with the sexual intercourse. Damage by transport or sun exposure belongs then exactly the same to the past like the question of the disposal: The natural rubber product decomposes and becomes humus.
Still condom testers are looked for, which already gained experience in handling condoms. Prospective customers can announce themselves on this web page anonymous.
So is this the next step in the world's struggle against HIV or the newest arsenal in frat houses across the country? Please be sure to let us know if you decide to sign up as a beta tester for this product, but until then, feel free to check out the company's um . . . virtual condom advisor.
Go to the product page in German or English . . .
(hat tip: Gizmodo)
(4)
Thursday, November 30, 2006
VivaGel™: Intravaginal STD Defense
UCSF has announced initiation of a trial of "the first U.S. study of the safety of a new a [sic] vaginal gel designed to prevent herpes and HIV infection." VivaGel™, the product being tested is by Starpharma, a firm based in Melbourne, Australia. It is fundamentally a nanotechnology drug.
Company explains:
The active ingredient of VivaGel™ is a dendrimer. Dendrimers are carefully-assembled tiny particles with many potential applications in medicine and industry. The surface of the active dendrimer in VivaGel™ is covered with regions that are thought to bind to the HIV or HSV-2 viruses. Scientists believe that the microbicidal activity already proven in animals arises because the viruses cannot enter cells when the dendrimer is attached, and so cannot cause infection...
VivaGel™ has also been shown to be a contraceptive in rabbits, and compatible with condoms in laboratory tests.
In the picture above, one can see how SPL7013, the active dendrimer ingredient of Starpharma's VivaGel™, binds to surface proteins on HIV, preventing the virus from infecting human T-cells.
Starpharma company page...
More about dendrimers from the Chemical & Engineering News...
(0)
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Metabolomics Profiling of IVF Embryos
Steven Palter over at the docinthemachine has an interesting post about the latest efforts to advance the technology to test IVF embryos for health and viability.
Check it out.
(0)
Monday, November 6, 2006
The Pronto Condom
Ladies and gentlemen, pay close attention to the magic of Jacob and Manto:
The editorial staff of Medgadget is convinced, and humbled.
Company's website is down... within hours of the release, we assume the product order backlog is in the billions.
UPDATE: South African company's website is now up and running.
(3)
Monday, October 30, 2006
New Male Contraceptive Wipes Out Our Swimmers
Interesting new research from the Population Council's Center for Biomedical Research explores a non-hormonal approach to prevent sperm from reaching maturation, inducing temporary infertility.
The first generation of male contraceptives will likely employ hormones to block spermatic development. Such products are currently undergoing extensive clinical testing. But for men who don't want to alter their sex hormones over the long haul, researchers are exploring a variety of nonhormonal options based on sperm biology. One avenue involves proteins called adherens, which allow sperm to attach to specialized cells in the testes. Similar to the brain, the testes do not allow blood to flow inside. To make up for the lack of circulatory nourishment, sperm cells adhere to so-called Sertoli cells, which provide the nutrients a growing sperm needs to reach maturity.Biomedical researchers at the Population Council identified a compound that interferes with adherens. Initially, some rodents that were fed the drug, dubbed Adjudin, experienced inflamed livers and muscle deterioration. In a Nature Medicine paper published online October 29 the researchers report they linked Adjudin to an engineered version of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), a sex hormone recognized by receptors found only on the Sertoli cells. That way the Adjudin is dragged with FSH directly to the testes and spends less time circulating in the rest of the body, says senior team member Yan Cheng. As a result, much less of the compound is needed to reduce fertility in rodents, the group reports. The drug still needs several years of animal testing before a human trial is conceivable, Cheng says.
Read more at Scientific American. . .
Check out the abstract . . .
(1)
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Autofluorescent Laparoscopy Shows Promise in Endometriosis Dx
At the 62nd annual meeting of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), currently underway in New Orleans, Dr. Steven F. Palter has won First Prize for Technical Achievement in Video for his study of a new laparoscopic technology that can be used to diagnose endometriosis. Steven also runs Docinthemachine site.
Here's how he describes the system:
A specialized laparoscopy system was designed based upon the same general principle as fluorescence spectroscopy. In contrast to reflection, where light bounces unchanged off of a surface structure, in fluorescence the light is absorbed and then released at a different wavelength (color). When certain tissues are illuminated with light energy from short wavelength (380 - 430 nm) light, the absorbed energy is emitted as light at a longer wavelength (475-800 nm) and is observed as fluorescent light of a different color. The fluorescent light can be observed using special optical filters designed to block the background light and allow the fluorescent light to be viewed.This fluorescence occurs in the same fashion during illumination with ordinary white light but becomes lost and invisible due to the much brighter illuminating white light. This system allows the selective visualization of the low intensity autofluorescent signals by filtering out the other bright light wavelengths that are in white light. No additional wavelengths of light are used.
Tissues illuminated with regular light emit a small amount of differently colored fluorescent light which is often not seen since the overall illuminating white light is so much brighter. By applying specific filters to the illumination light the amount of fluorescent light emitted can be maximized. By using observation filters, the large amount of illuminating light can be filtered out and the small amount of colored fluorescent light made to stand out and be more easily seen. Since connective tissues and surface epithelia have background autofluorescence (AF), pathologic lesions that grow on the surface of an epithelial layer (such as the peritoneum) may stand out compared with normal tissue when viewed in this manner by having a different light pattern than the normal tissue.
From the press release:
The system, manufactured by Karl Storz Endoscopy-America, is based on technology that has previously been used to detect lung cancer. This study represents its first use for laparoscopic examination of the pelvic and abdominal cavities in the US. It is not yet approved for general use in the US.
How the system works...
(0)
» OV-Watch® (October 11, 2006)
» All Plugged Up: Intra Vas Male Contraceptive (October 10, 2006)
» Condom Promotes Lubrication (July 20, 2006)
» Implanon Under Her Skin (July 20, 2006)
» Rub It Up (July 7, 2006)
» RNA Interference Has Gone Too Far (June 28, 2006)
» Womb Transplants (June 21, 2006)
» Baby Gender Mentor: A Suit Is Born (March 23, 2006)
» The Hydron Implant Technology (January 20, 2006)
» Fertell Male Fertility Home Test (January 4, 2006)
» I'm in the Mood For... Nasal Sprays (November 23, 2005)
» No-Needle Anesthetic Technique for Vasectomy (November 1, 2005)
» Robotic Strength Training for Stroke Victims, Part Deux (October 25, 2005)
» Using Brain Scanners to Figure Out What Women Want (October 14, 2005)
» Frozen Ovarian Tissue Transplant Reverses Infertility (July 1, 2005)
» Baby Gender Mentor™: At Home Gender Test (June 29, 2005)
» Successful Thawing of Oocytes (June 9, 2005)
» The 'Viagra' Condom (May 2, 2005)
» Pasante Unique (April 29, 2005)
» Spongeworthy News (April 25, 2005)
» ExAblate Making Waves in US (April 19, 2005)
» 'Stem cell research may be boon to fertility clinics' (February 22, 2005)
» Fertiligent (February 21, 2005)