Healthcare
How small can we go? Designing the next generation of implantable neurostimulators
Reimagining the future
Healthcare
The antimicrobial susceptibility testing conundrum
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing at the point of care could slow the spread of antimicrobial resistance, but only creative technology development and regulatory equivalence data will unlock this prize.
Healthcare
Front-loading monoclonal antibody screening for faster drug discovery
Monoclonal antibodies offer promise in the fight against a wide range of diseases, including COVID-19. The length of the discovery process is a barrier to emergency use, however, and poses a commercial risk for pharmaceutical companies. Multidisciplinary innovation could step up the pace, says Verity Jackson.
Healthcare
Remote user testing for medical device development: advantages as well as challenges abound
Remote user testing allowed us to substantially accelerate the development of the CoVent™ ventilator. Dan Lock reviews the impact of social distancing on user research and finds that many of our necessary adaptations will continue to have value. Yet, each new study challenges us to come up with new approaches to inform medical device development.
Healthcare
What failure rate are we willing to accept in cell therapy manufacture? Insights from medical device development
Autologous cell therapies hold great promise in the treatment of many cancers but are generally produced using processes and equipment for which there are concerns as to whether they are sufficiently reliable to support scale-out to 1000s of systems. Medical device development holds important lessons for achieving the required reliability for cell therapy automation equipment.
Healthcare
Biomimetics evolution at the micron scale and beyond
From Velcro to human flight, biomimicry has inspired the development of products and industries. During the 2020s, microfabrication and other bottom-up approaches will likely lead to many more bio-inspired ideas achieving technical and commercial success, says Fred Hussain.
Healthcare
Special Delivery: can advanced intracellular delivery enable superior cell therapies for solid tumour treatment – and beyond?
Inspired by the promise of CAR-T cell therapy, new technologies to combat the hostile solid tumour microenvironment are being developed, underpinned by innovations in intracellular delivery, say Megan McCandless and Stuart Lowe.
Healthcare
Only a ‘click’ away: click chemistry transforms life science applications
Click chemistry has come into its own in a wide range of life science applications and opens up opportunities that lie between chemistry, biology and material science, says Wenshu Xu.
Healthcare
Accelerating medical device development: Lessons from CoVent and the UK ventilator challenge
Developing a medical device in weeks rather than years during the coronavirus pandemic was an extraordinary undertaking. Dan Strange reviews TTP’s “Project Jarre” to develop the CoVent(TM) ventilator and draws some lessons as to how – when needs must – faster medical device development is possible.
Healthcare
DNA Origami: What can we make of it?
From smiley faces to diagnostic sensors, the possibility of using DNA as a nanofabrication material is gaining increasing attention. Gary Skinner explains “DNA Origami,” its applications and what is holding back its wider adoption into the marketplace.
Healthcare
Key early-stage microfabrication decisions for life science start-ups and SMEs
Many companies face important early-stage decisions about how best to access cleanroom and laboratory facilities, equipment and know-how towards microfabrication – get these decisions wrong and progress to market can become painfully slow, says Fred Hussain.
