Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are biological nanoparticles actively released by cells, comprising of an outer lipid membrane, and containing markers indicative of the cell of origin, and housing an inner aqueous core. Most EVs are 100 nm in diameter or less but can range in size from 30 nm to a few micrometres. EVs are found in all body fluids. More...

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small membrane-coated particles (30 nm - 1,000 nm) released from animal and plant cells. Originally thought to be unwanted cellular debris it has since been realised these are actively secreted, contain soluble molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids, and are involved in both normal and pathological conditions....

Infusion pumps deliver medications at programmed rates or intervals. However, incorrect doses can occur if fluids are delivered at inaccurate flow rates, particularly drugs with narrow therapeutic margins, short half-life, high concentration, or the very low flow rates typical for newborn children. Therefore, accurate and precise control of flow r...

Resistance to antibiotic treatments are responsible for approximately 33,000 deaths a year in Europe and infectious diseases were the leading cause of death among children under five. This includes bacteria that have developed resistance to Carbapenems, considered drugs of ‘last resort’ for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) infections. A 2016 UK Gover...

Infusion pumps, also known as syringe pumps, are used to automatically deliver critical fluids to patients at precisely programmed rates or intervals. When these devices are used to administer high-risk medications, inaccuracies in delivered flow rates can have significant safety implications; especially for drugs with narrow therapeutic margins, ...

The haemiglobincyanide (HiCN) reference method has been the gold standard for measuring haemoglobin concentrations in blood, indicative of anaemia, for more than 50 years. Used around the world to diagnose anaemia and monitor response to treatment, the HiCN method is both effective and benefits from readily-available stable calibration standards. ...

Certain molecules within biological samples - known as biomarkers - can be indicative of serious diseases, such as cancers, HIV and Hepatitis. Detecting their presence and determining how these small molecules interact with each other and cells in the body holds considerable potential for developing new diagnostic tools which detect disease much ea...

Fragments of cells shed into the bloodstream can indicate the presence of diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. These fragments – called extracellular vesicles (EV) – are generating excitement in the medical research community as their role in spreading diseases between cells is being discovered. New diagnostic methods and drug deliv...

Many diseases, including cancers, diabetes and heart disease increase the number of small cell particles, extracellular vesicles (EV) or microvesicles in the bloodstream. These have recently been discovered to both indicate disease and also play an important role in spreading cancer around the body. Being able to make earlier disease diagnosis, mon...

Tuberculosis (TB) is a global problem made more serious by challenges associated with diagnosis and identification of drug resistance. A major challenge is quickly identifying the presence of TB causing bacteria in a patient’s sample. Conventionally, for the most accurate diagnoses, samples are cultured for six weeks before being tested and while n...