Researchers have created “sponges” that would absorb excess cancer drugs before they spread through the body and cause negative side effects.

Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) affect approximately 300,000 Americans, with about 18,000 new cases occurring per year. One of these patients, Jake Javier, who we have written about many times over the past several years, received ten million stem cells as part of a CIRM-funded clinical trial and a video about his first year at Cal Poly depicts how these injuries can impact someone’s life.

Currently, there is nothing that completely reverses SCI damage and most treatment is aimed at rehabilitation and empowering patients to lead as normal a life as possible under the circumstances. Improved treatment options are necessary both to improve patients’ overall quality of life, and to reduce associated healthcare costs.

Scientists at UC San Diego’s School of Medicine and Institute of Engineering in Medicine have made critical progress in providing SCI patients with hope towards a more comprehensive and longer lasting treatment option.

New research from MIT has resulted in a microfluidic device, the tumor analysis platform (TAP), that can simulate different cancer treatments on biopsied tumor tissue. The TAP device can be 3D printed within one hour and is slightly larger than a quarter. Three cylindrical shafts rise from the surface of the device and serve as ports to input and drain fluids, as well as remove air bubbles. Fluid—including various media, fluorescent markers, or lymphocytes—gets injected into an inlet port adjacent to the trap. The fluid enters through the inlet port and flows past the trap.

A new 3D-printed device from MIT researchers allows for the testing of different cancer treatments on live tumor tissue outside the human body.