Just a few minutes of warning during a natural disaster can mean the difference between life and death. Imagine being stuck underneath rubble after a hurricane slams landward, knocking out the emergency phone lines. What if social media could save your life? What if an online platform gave you a more accurate, detailed route of a hurricane?

Purdue University researchers have developed an approach that allows experienced surgeons and physicians around the world to help less-experienced doctors in war zones, natural disasters and in rural areas perform complicated procedures. “The most critical challenge is to provide surgical expertise into the battlefield when it is most required,” said Juan Wachs, Purdue’s James A. and Sharon M. Tompkins Rising Star Asso...

Purdue University researchers have developed a class of optical nanotweezers that can trap and detect biomolecules, viruses and DNA more rapidly. The technology can also use light to promptly detect cancer or improve the production of medications, an important step forward as nearly half of Americans have used at least one prescription drug within the past month. The researchers developed a nanostructured plasmonic metafilm by perforating na...

Researchers have created the fastest man-made rotor in the world, which they believe will help them study quantum mechanics. At more than 60 billion revolutions per minute, this machine is more than 100,000 times faster than a high-speed dental drill. The findings were published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Purdue University researchers have created an electronic chip that may provide improved support for the hundreds of millions of people worldwide the World Health Organisation says are affected by neurological disorders. The Purdue researchers developed an electronic chip that can read signals from several nerve endings and wirelessly transmit them without needing a battery or any other component. Energy is created by an on-chip antenna simil...

A startup created by Purdue University professors is developing a sensor that can detect dangerous mosquito-borne tropical diseases faster and at a lower cost than current methods, giving health officials time to take action before the viruses are transmitted to humans. SMK Diagnostics has created biosensor technology to identify and monitor diseases such as Zika, which set off a global health crisis in 2015 and 2016, and dengue, which cause...

Purdue University researchers have developed soft contact lenses that not only correct vision but also can monitor glucose and medical conditions and be used for ocular pain relief or drug delivery. Sensors or other technology previously couldn’t be used for soft contact lenses because the technology required a rigid, planar surface incompatible with the soft, curved shape of a contact lens.

A Purdue-affiliated startup is developing a low-cost, high-tech solution to address the nationwide health crisis of Americans failing to take their medicine as prescribed. The Internet of Things system reminds patients to take medications and quickly alerts caregivers or providers when intervention is needed.

Purdue University researchers have developed a device that uses cold plasma technology that could transform how medical tools are sterilised. The device generates cold plasma, which has high potential to be used in the fields of sterilisation and disinfection, through pure direct current high voltage instead of the conventional radio frequency or pulsed DC power.

Purdue University researchers have developed a minimally invasive technique that may help doctors better explore and treat cancerous cells, tissues and tumours without affecting nearby healthy cells. The method, called PLASMAT - Plasma Technologies for a Healthier Tomorrow - combines three emerging techniques that appear promising in the fight against most types of cancer.

Purdue University researchers are developing an app and wearable technology to enable pregnant women to use a smartphone to detect whether they have or are susceptible to a condition that could lead to serious health complications for them or their unborn child. The team, led by Craig Goergen, an assistant professor in Purdue’s Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, is developing a low-cost automated early detection sensor of preecla...

Purdue University researchers have developed detection technology that allows a typical smartphone to analyse produce for foodborne pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7, which has been linked to a deadly outbreak in romaine lettuce. The technology involves both hardware – a smartphone cradle – and software in the form of an application that is downloaded on the phone. The combination allows the smartphone to be used as an on-site lu...

A silk hybrid material attacks bacteria when illuminated by a green light, thanks to a far-red fluorescent protein researchers transferred to its genetic makeup. The all-natural material would be safer than conventional photocatalytic, or light-activated, means to kill harmful pathogens such as bacteria, which use potentially biohazardous semiconductors and require cancer-causing ultraviolet light for activation.

Purdue researcher Luis Solorio has helped create a lifelike cancer environment out of polymer to better predict how drugs might stop its course. Previous research has shown that most cancer deaths happen because of how it spreads, or metastasises, in the body. A major hurdle for treating cancer is not being able to experiment with metastasis itself and knock out what it needs to spread.

A 'quantum material' that mimics a shark's ability to detect the minute electric fields of small prey has been shown to perform well in ocean-like conditions, with potential applications from defense to marine biology. The material maintains its functional stability and does not corrode after being immersed in saltwater, a prerequisite for ocean sensing. Surprisingly, it also functions well in the cold, ambient temperatures typical of seawat...

A system under development at Purdue University uses artificial intelligence to detect cracks captured in videos of nuclear reactors and represents a future inspection technology to help reduce accidents and maintenance costs. "Regular inspection of nuclear power plant components is important to guarantee safe operations," said Mohammad R. Jahanshahi, an assistant professor in Purdue's Lyles School of Civil Engineering.

A new technology that simulates tumours has been shown to perform as well as research animals in testing chemotherapy drugs, representing a potential tool for screening drugs before treating a patient. A long-term goal is to incorporate biopsied cancer cells from patients and test the effectiveness of different drugs on the patient-derived cells, said Bumsoo Han, a Purdue University professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering.

  A pair of Purdue University professors are using the popular Nintendo Wii gaming system to help people with Parkinson’s disease. Jessica Huber and Jeff Haddad from the College of Health and Human Sciences are studying how playing specially created games can improve a patient’s movement, speech and overall quality of life.

In a potential breakthrough for the treatment of obesity and diabetes, Purdue University scientists have found a way to deliver a drug directly to stored white fat cells to turn them into more easily burned brown fat cells. White adipose tissue, most associated with obesity, is a type of fat that collects in the body for long-term storage of energy. It’s possible humans evolved to store white fat to act as insulation and energy storage...

A new medical-diagnostic device made out of paper detects biomarkers and identifies diseases by performing electrochemical analyses - powered only by the user’s touch - and reads out the color-coded test results, making it easy for non-experts to understand. “You could consider this a portable laboratory that is just completely made out of paper, is inexpensive and can be disposed of through incineration,” said Ramses V. Ma...