Massage Therapy Reduces Inflammatory Signaling After Exercise-induced Muscle Damage

When most of us get a massage, we leave in a trance with muscles feeling like jelly. But when Mark Tarnopolsky, Professor of Pediatrics in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University, got a massage — as part of a therapeutic regimen for a hamstring injured while waterskiing — he left determined to figure out exactly what was happening in his muscles at the molecular level to make them feel like jelly. His results are reported in Science Translational Medicine.

Massage therapyImage credit: A luxurious massage via Shutterstock

Microneedle Biosensors for Real-time Monitoring Of Body Chemistry

Scientists from North Carolina State University, Sandia National Laboratories, and the University of California, San Diego have developed new technology that enables doctors to detect real-time chemical changes in the body and to do so continuously for an extended period of time.

Scanning electron micrograph of a microneedle

Microneedles are very small needles in which at least one dimension –- such as length –- is less than one millimeter. Existing technology depends on taking samples and testing them; microneedle biosensors instead allow for continuous monitoring in real time.

Dr. Roger Narayan, professor in the joint biomedical engineering department of NC State’s College of Engineering and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, explains:

We’ve loaded the hollow channels within microneedles with electrochemical sensors that can be used to detect specific molecules or pH levels. The idea is that customized microneedle sensor arrays could be developed and incorporated into wearable devices, such as something like a wristwatch, to help answer specific medical or research questions. For example, it could monitor glucose levels in a diabetic patient

The sensors are currently designed to detect glucose, pH levels and lactate. The research was recently published online in the journal Talanta.

Study: Multiplexed Microneedle-based Biosensor Array for Characterization of Metabolic Acidosis

Source: North Carolina State University News