When it comes to 3D printing, the sky is the limit. As 3D printing technology continues to advance, applications can be as far reaching as airplane and automobile parts to medical devices and even anatomically correct, biocompatible models. Although 3D printing technology is developing at a rapid pace, the technology itself is not new. It emerged in the 1980s as a means of creating rapid prototypes. In recent years the applications for 3D printed models have evolved with the available hardware, software, and printable materials. Evolving technology, paired with the creative and innovative minds of scientists, engineers, and physicians, has been the launching pad for developments within 3D printing technology specific to healthcare. One way 3D printing technology is poised to create better patient outcomes is in creating an anatomically and patient-specific models to aid in surgery and medical procedures. With the capability to 3D ...
There’s a new polymer out there ready to grab nicotine, the addictive molecule in tobacco, and its kin. Researchers in Poland and the U.S. have designed that polymer so that it can be used to make sensitive and selective chemical sensors to measure nicotine in solutions, and, some day, in gases. The polymer is designed in such way that it can do the opposite and release nicotine, in a slow and controlled fashion, so that it also has applications in nicotine addiction therapy.
Researchers at the Institute of the Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy (IPC-PAS) and state university, led by Kutner & Francis, placed pincers, much like crab claws, on the polymer that could hold onto nicotine molecules and its analogues.
A press release from IPC-PAS says:
The polymer with pincers for nicotine can be used, among others, in chemosensors devised to analyze nicotine content in tobacco leaves and in biomedical studies to determine nicotine metabolites in patients’ body fluids. Another potential application is nicotine patches to help quit smoking. The new polymer could be used for prolong and smooth release of nicotine.
At the heart of the nicotine, the trap is a molecule called a metalloporphyrin derivative. It’s much like the cluster found in red blood cells to hold onto iron. The metalloporphyrin derivative has a ring with a zinc atom as well as the molecular pincers. Nicotine binds to this polymer so that one part binds to the zinc atom, and another to the pincers.
Besides nicotine, the polymer captures molecules produced during the metabolism of nicotine and other alkaloids that accompany nicotine. Nicotine binds strongly to the polymer, but the binding is reversible. This means that when the polymer is made into a sensor, it can be used repeatedly to detect nicotine and its kind.
When nicotine attaches to the polymer trap, its presence is detected by a piezoelectric resonator. The captured nicotine raises the mass of the film, which causes a decrease in the resonant frequency of the resonator. This decrease in resonant frequency is a cinch to measure and indicates the presence of nicotine.
Right now, the system works in solution, but the researchers are aiming to have it work with greater sensitivity, and in gases.
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