IMAGING
• Siemens Medical Solutions and Xintek, a University of North Carolina spin-off, have formed a joint venture to develop nanotechnology-enabled multi-pixel X-ray tubes. Dubbed XinRay Systems, the new company will target a broad range of diagnostic imaging applications.
• JMAR Technologies, a developer of laser-based technology and X-ray processes for nano-scale imaging, analysis and fabrication, has received $7.5 million in new financing from Laurus Master Fund.
"This level of financing will permit our full concentration on proprietary products related to homeland security and military applications," commented Neil Beer, JMAR's president and CEO.
MEDICAL APPS
• Cientifica's report on the nanoparticle drug-delivery market is now available through Research and Markets. The document offers 58 case studies on nanoparticle-enabled drug-delivery systems.
• Nanosphere has received clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration regarding its Verigene system, which uses patented gold nanoparticle technology to detect nucleic acid targets in a multiplex format. According to the firm, the easy to use system enables simple, low-cost and highly sensitive genomic and protein testing on a single platform.
• Nanogen is evaluating the future of its NanoChip instrument system as well as other parts of its business, as part of an aggressive plan to achieve profitability.
"We recognize that our microarray technology is very good and customer reception is positive. However, multiplex molecular testing remains an early stage market with slower growth and lower testing volumes than we expected," said Howard Birndorf, Nanogen's chairman and CEO. "The cost and effort to develop the broad product menu needed to be successful, while also working to develop the clinical market over the next several years, are large efforts and are expenses that Nanogen can no longer afford on its own."
• Frost & Sullivan has taken a look at advances in neurostimulation as part of its Technical Insights series and concludes that nanotechnology could benefit the design of future therapeutic devices.
"One of the major challenges faced by neurostimulators is biocompatibility; no matter how it is treated or coated, an implant will always remain a foreign object to the interior physiology of the body," says Frost & Sullivan research analyst Abhishek Dutta. "Therefore, issues of biocompatibility and rejection by the body are key points in the design of nerve interfaces because of the high attenuation of nerve signals and stimulation pulses."
ENVIRONMENT
• Industrial Nanotech has joined the US Green Building Council – an organization promoting buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work. Dubbed Nansulate, the firm's coating is said to combine thermal insulation, corrosion prevention and resistance to mould growth in an environmentally safe, water-based formulation.
COMMS
• Corning's ultra-bendable "ClearCurve" optical fibre will be on show at this month's Fiber-to-the-Home conference. The novel fibre uses nanostructures rather than glass composition to control its refractive index profile.