A team of researchers has developed a new class of biomaterial inks that mimic native characteristics of highly conductive human tissue, much like skin, which are essential for the ink to be used in 3D printing. Source: Science Daily/Texas A&M University

By combining optical measurements with ultrasound, researchers were able to study oxygen levels in the placenta, paving the way for a better understanding of this complex, crucial organ. Source: Science Daily/University of Pennsylvania

Patients with darker skin who received less accurate readings of their oxygen levels using pulse oximeters — the ubiquitous devices clamped on hospitalized patients’ fingers — also received less supplemental oxygen during ICU stays, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Source: STAT

A flaw in a widely used medical device that measures oxygen levels causes critically ill Asians, Blacks and Hispanics to receive less supplemental oxygen to help them breathe than white patients, according to data from a large study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Source: Reuters

Over the past two years, the pulse oximeter has become a crucial tool for tracking the health of COVID-19 patients. The small device clips onto a finger and measures the amount of oxygen in a patient's blood. But a growing body of evidence shows the device can be inaccurate when measuring oxygen levels in people with dark skin tones. A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine only adds to this concern. Source: NPR

The Council on Strategic Risks hosted a webinar on June 8 titled RADx® Initiative & COVID-19 Solutions: Bioengineering at Unprecedented Speed and Scale. This NIH RADx Initiative was critical in the shift from solely laboratory-based testing to the public-private partnership that enabled the production and accessibility of point-of-care and over-the-counter COVID-19 tests. Source: Council on Strategic Risks

As more machine learning tools reach patients, developers are starting to get smart about the potential for bias to seep in. But a growing body of research aims to emphasize that even carefully trained models — ones built to ignore race — can breed inequity in care. Source: STAT

As they grow, solid tumors surround themselves with a thick, hard-to-penetrate wall of molecular defenses. Getting drugs past that barricade is notoriously difficult. Now, scientists have developed nanoparticles that can break down the physical barriers around tumors to reach cancer cells. Once inside, the nanoparticles release their payload: a gene editing system that alters DNA inside the tumor, blocking its growth and activating the immune system. Source: Science Daily/UT Southwestern Medical Center

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have developed a method to scan and image the blood flow and oxygen levels inside a mouse brain in real-time with enough resolution to view the activity of both individual vessels and the entire brain at once. This new imaging approach breaks long-standing speed and resolution barriers in brain imaging technologies and could uncover new insights into neurovascular diseases like stroke, dementia and even acute brain injury. Source: Science Daily/Duke University