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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + +++ +MEDICAL EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES U +++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Top Recent Innovations in Life Sciences By Vito Di Bari F OR THE PAST four years, The Scientist: Magazine of the Life Sciences has published a list of the Top 10 Innovations in the life sciences field that will have a major impact on our lives in the future. Read on for my brief summary of and thoughts on the list of 2011's top innovations, as chosen by the magazine's panel of judges from more than 65 entries. The name's self-explanatory, but it's not just a shrunken version of the microscopes high school students use in biology class. This holographic instrument, developed by an electrical engineer at the University of California, Los Angeles, can be attached to a cellphone's camera. The images can then be transmitted and re-created using an algorithm on a distant computer. The microscope, called LUCAS for "Lensless, Ultra-wide-field Cell monitoring Array platform based on Shadow imaging," weighs less than 50 grams. Since cellphone networks exist throughout the world, LUCAS can be carried into remote villages in the developing world, where it can help identify diseases in people with no access to hospitals. MICROSCOPE ON THE MOVE: IN VIVO OPTICAL IMAGING: In vivo is Latin for "in the living," and Bioscan's BioFLECT device will, for the first time, give 10 | Twin Cities MD NEWS I MDNEWS.COM researchers a 360-degree look inside lab animals. The device reconstructs light emissions and provides an accurate optical look inside living tissue. PCR is the short form of "polymerase chain reaction," the process used to develop enough DNA to be adequately tested. Among other things, the process is used in detecting disease-causing pathogens in humans. The FilmArray system, developed by Idaho Technology Inc., makes the pathogen identification process so simple that virtually anyone can do it. Insert DNA from a nasal swab, for instance, in the FilmArray pouch, then insert the pouch into the machine. Before you know it, pathogens are identified at half the price of traditional methods. PCR SIMPLIFIED: ZEROING IN: Cytometry refers to the measurement of the physical characteristics of cells, and a mass spectrometer is a device that measures the masses of atoms and molecules. DVS Sciences has now developed CyTOF, a mass spectrometer that can zero in on molecules within and on the surface of cells. The exciting development will facilitate research that could lead to creation of "boutique" drugs to treat rare diseases.

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