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Industrial Liaison Group:
Tel: +44 (0) 1235 778797
E-mail: [email protected]
Innovative use of technology, together with rigorous controls to ensure product security, is needed to meet demanding requirements for healthcare technology development particularly around cost, portability and usability. As the focus moves from the hospital to the home, healthcare research and development is increasingly driven by the needs of the patient end users rather than clinicians. The requirement to develop robust, reliable, lower energy and cost-effective point-of-care devices is more important than ever before. While it remains essential to business strategy to balance the needs and opportunities in both developed and emerging markets, increasingly complex regulatory frameworks are delaying the time to market, so a good understanding of the science behind the product and access to the widest possible variety of research and development tools is vital to ensure success.
Diamond provides specialist analytical techniques for the atomic to microscale
characterisation of materials ranging from high performance components and devices to through to diagnostic tools and drug delivery technologies.
Diagnostics
Implants
Novel Materials
Devices
Chikungunya is a viral disease transmitted to humans via infected mosquitos and has been classed as a category B priority pathogen.
Although many cases are mild, the virus can cause chronic disease and long-term debilitating joint pain in patients.
Since 2004, chikungunya has spread rapidly and has been identified in over 60 countries throughout Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. There is currently no vaccine or specific drug against the virus.
The process of electrospinning has been around for many years. It was originally used for the development of textiles; however in the last 5-10 years, this method has been used for more innovative applications.
Electrospinning uses electric forces to draw charged threads of polymer solutions or polymer melts to create fibres with diameters of a few micrometres. It enables the generation of constructs with large surface areas and a fibrous morphology that closely resemble the macromolecular structure of many tissue matrices; it therefore provides a good structure for cell attachment, tissue regeneration, and even drug delivery.
Osteoporosis is a bone disease that affects 200 million people worldwide and contributes to 8.9 million fractures annually. The condition causes a loss of bone mass and structure which in turn leads to bones becoming weak and breaking, usually during a trip or fall. The disease is prevalent in people over 55, and in particular women, due to the loss of oestrogen hormone during the menopause. Osteoporosis is becoming increasingly prevalent in men who receive cancer therapies which supress testosterone levels. Bisphosphonates are a family of medicines which are commonly prescribed to treat osteoporosis. The most common types are alendronate and zoledronate which aim to strengthen osteoporotic bones by slowing down the activity of bone cells.
Read more...Diamond Light Source is the UK's national synchrotron science facility, located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire.
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OX11 0DE
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