Browse Technologies

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Researchers at Vanderbilt have developed a new image-guided, trackerless surgical microscope system to be used in soft tissue surgeries. The current method is to use a surgical microscope along with an image-guided system. This new design eliminates the need for a separate image-guidance system; the entire guidance environment can be realized within the microscope environment.

A research team lead by Professor Sandra Rosenthal at Vanderbilt University has developed nanocrystals (~2 nm diameter) that emit white light with very high quantum efficiency. This technology would be a viable cost effective candidate for commercial solid-state lighting applications, such as Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). These nanocrystals were originally discovered by the same group in 2005; a recent breakthrough in post-treatment results in improving fluorescent quantum yield up to ~ 45%.

Vanderbilt researchers have designed a forward scanning miniature intraoperative Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) probe that can be used for diagnostic purposes and real-time monitoring of surgery within small spaces, such as endoscopic surgery, intraocular surgery, and other microsurgery.

New compounds developed at Vanderbilt demonstrate a unique mechanism of broad spectrum activity to stymy antibacterial resistance. The compounds are particularly useful in chronic infections where long term antibiotic therapy fails, because it specifically kills "small colony variants" -- the bacteria that have developed resistance mechanisms. These compounds show promise in treating Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), Bacillus anthracis (anthrax), and in overcoming difficult-to-treat infections in bone in cystic fibrosis patients. These compounds could be combined with new (and old) antimicrobial drugs to outwit resistant bacterial infections.