A fuel cell under the skin that converts blood sugar from the body into electrical energy sounds like science fiction. Yet it works perfectly, as an ETH Zurich research team led by Martin Fussenegger, Professor of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, has shown. In type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin. This means that patients have to obtain the hormone externally to regulate their blood sugar levels. Nowadays, this is mostly done via insulin pumps that are attached directly to the body. These devices, as well as other medical applications such as pacemakers, require a reliable energy supply, which at present is met primarily by power from either single-​use or rechargeable batteries.

Now, a team of researchers led by Martin Fussenegger from the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at ETH Zurich in Basel (Switzerland) have put a seemingly futuristic idea into practice. They have developed an implantable fuel cell that uses excess blood sugar (glucose) from tissue to generate electrical energy. The researchers have combined the fuel cell with artificial beta cells developed by their group several years ago. These produce insulin at the touch of a button and effectively lower blood glucose levels much like their natural role models in the pancreas.

“Many people, especially in the Western industrialised nations, consume more carbohydrates than they need in everyday life,” Fussenegger explains. This, he adds, leads to obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. “This gave us the idea of using this excess metabolic energy to produce electricity to power biomedical devices,” he says.

At the heart of the fuel cell is an anode (electrode) made of copper-​based nanoparticles, which Fussenegger’s team created specifically for this application. It consists of copper-​based nanoparticles and splits glucose into gluconic acid and a proton to generate electricity, which sets an electric circuit in motion. Wrapped in a nonwoven fabric and coated with alginate, an algae product approved for medical use, the fuel cell resembles a small tea bag that can be implanted under the skin. The alginate soaks up body fluid and allows glucose to pass from the tissue into the fuel cell within.

Source: https://ethz.ch/

A test that spots pancreatic cancer from a single drop of blood could improve survival rates. The first blood test for early diagnosis of the hard-to-spot disease, it could be available within months. Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of the common cancers, with 7.3 per cent of patients alive five years after diagnosis, compared to 58.4 per cent of bowel cancer patients and 85 per cent of breast cancer patients.

The disease is one of the hardest to diagnose early. This is partly because the pancreas — a pear-shaped gland that makes digestive juices and hormones including insulin — is hidden behind the stomach, making it difficult for tumours to be felt or seen on scans. It also doesn’t usually cause symptoms in the early stages — when they do occur, the signs, such as stomach or back pain, weight loss and indigestion, can be vague and easily confused with conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome.

Treatments include surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy but their effectiveness hinges on early diagnosis. Caught early, before the disease has spread to other organs, up to 25 per cent of patients will live for at least five years. If the disease has spread, average survival is two to six months.

The new test, developed by Swedish biotech firm Immunovia and being trialled on 2,000 people at University College London Hospital, and 20 other centres in the U.S., Spain and Sweden, looks for signs of the disease in patient’s blood. These include different levels of around 30 proteins and other compounds identified by the Swedish scientists.

They provide a distinct chemical fingerprint of the disease. The test picks out the compounds using antibodies that latch on to individual chemicals: sophisticated scanning equipment is then used to measure their levels. Previous research shows the test is 96 per cent accurate in spotting people with early-stage pancreatic cancers.

Source: https://immunovia.com/
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