Medicine

Researchers from Brazil's Federal University of Pelotas and Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul have developed a laser-induced graphene sensor that can detect dopamine with high sensitivity in tear fluid, pointing to a possible noninvasive route for monitoring neurological disorders. 

Dopamine is central to movement, cognition, and emotional regulation, and abnormal levels are linked to disorders including Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia. Because current monitoring methods often rely on blood, urine, or implanted devices, the researchers focused on tears as a faster and less invasive alternative. The team built the sensor using laser-induced graphene and then functionalized it with nickel nitrate and urea. This combination increased the number of active sites, improved electron transfer, and boosted the oxidation signal from dopamine, which is the key electrochemical event the sensor measures.

Researchers at China's Gannan Medical University and Shanghai University recently developed a Schottky junction-based nanocomposite that combines gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with graphene oxide quantum dots (GOQDs), demonstrating a highly effective, antibiotic-free strategy for treating bacterial infections and accelerating wound healing.

The work addresses a known clinical challenge: the rapid rise of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria driven by widespread antibiotic use. Conventional approaches - such as increasing antibiotic dosage or developing new drugs - are often limited by toxicity, long development timelines, and persistent resistance. As a result, non-invasive phototherapies, particularly photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT), are gaining attention as alternatives. However, each modality has intrinsic limitations: PDT efficiency is constrained by electron–hole recombination and oxygen availability, while PTT requires precise thermal control to avoid damaging healthy tissue. To overcome these constraints, the researchers engineered a hybrid nanostructure in which AuNPs and GOQDs form a Schottky junction - a metal–semiconductor interface that enables directional charge transfer. 

A team of researchers, led by IMB-CNM-CSIC and ICN2, has developed a graphene-based bidirectional neural interface that can simultaneously record and modulate brain activity, overcoming a longstanding limitation in neurotechnology. The device combines graphene solution-gated field-effect transistors (gSGFETs) with nanoporous reduced graphene oxide (rGO) microelectrodes in a single, flexible platform, enabling both high-sensitivity monitoring and effective stimulation.

Neural interfaces are already used clinically to treat neurological disorders, but most current systems remain unidirectional. They typically deliver stimulation using fixed parameters, without the ability to adapt in real time to ongoing brain activity. Even in systems that can both stimulate and record, performance is often constrained - particularly when it comes to detecting very low-frequency signals, which are increasingly recognized as important biomarkers. The newly reported device addresses these challenges by integrating two complementary graphene technologies. 

China-based developer and manufacturer of smart wearables and telehealth devices, Linktop, has launched the Lifestone Graphene Cooling Headband, a wearable device designed to enhance athletic endurance by reducing core body temperature and heart rate during high-intensity activities. The headband uses graphene's thermal conductivity to enable passive heat dissipation without batteries or evaporative cooling.

The technology is reportedly based on exercise physiology research showing that lower core temperature leads to reduced heart rate, delayed fatigue and improved endurance performance. 

Researchers from Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Hirosaki University Graduate School of Medicine, University of Amsterdam, Florida Polytechnic University and Jagiellonian University have shown that graphene quantum dots (GQDs) can disrupt the harmful aggregation of the protein α‑synuclein (ASN), which plays a central role in Parkinson’s disease and multiple system atrophy (MSA). In these disorders, ASN assembles into stable protein clusters inside brain cells, damaging them over time; the study demonstrates that properly engineered GQDs can interfere with this clustering process and help reduce the toxic protein load.

The team synthesized custom GQDs and carried out a detailed physicochemical characterization, including their surface chemistry, charge, optical behavior and crystalline structure. This allowed them to link specific material features to biological activity, an important step for rational design of nanomaterials that interact with proteins in a controlled way. They then evaluated the GQDs in a multi‑stage experimental pipeline that covered cell‑free aggregation assays, human dermal fibroblasts, primary murine dopaminergic neurons and an in vivo MSA mouse model.

INBRAIN Neuroelectronics has announced that it has completed patient recruitment in its first-in-human study evaluating its graphene cortical interface. A total of ten patients were recruited into its first-in-human study, and eight patients were treated surgically, with no perioperative device failure observed during use. Complete datasets were obtained from eight patients.

The study (NCT06368310), sponsored by the University of Manchester and conducted with Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, evaluated INBRAIN’s graphene-based cortical interface during neurosurgical procedures for brain tumor resection. The primary objective was to assess safety, with secondary objectives focused on signal quality, stability, stimulation capability, and suitability for intraoperative use with standard surgical tooling and recording equipment.

Researchers from TU Delft, its spinoff company SoundCell and Reinier Haga MDC have shown that graphene “nanodrums” combined with machine learning can identify bacteria and determine their antibiotic susceptibility from the nanomotion of single cells within a couple of hours. The approach unifies bacterial identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) in one label-free measurement at the single-cell level.

Each nanodrum consists of a bilayer graphene membrane less than 1 nanometer thick, suspended over an 8 micrometer-wide cavity that can host a single bacterium. When a living cell adheres to the drum, its intrinsic motions drive nanoscale vibrations of the graphene, which are read out optically as a time-dependent signal. This configuration avoids ensemble averaging and captures the mechanical behavior of individual bacteria.

Archer Materials has provided an update on its biochip program following the completion of Stage 1 project with IMEC. The company is developing advanced semiconductor devices, including chips relevant to quantum computing, sensing, and medical diagnostics. The next phase will focus on beta prototype development, incorporating cartridge engineering, readout electronics integration, stability testing, and external user validation.

The company has selected silicon for the current prototype builds, citing faster development timelines and established manufacturing pathways. While silicon is the material of choice for the current prototype, Archer affirms that graphene remains its next-generation chip platform for future performance optimization and product expansion. The core value of Archer’s technology resides in its proprietary functionalized layer chemistry and sensing architecture, applicable across both silicon and graphene chip substrates.

Researchers from Wuhan University and City University of Hong Kong have reported a soft, transparent, and stretchable laser-induced graphene (LIG)-Cu/PDMS patch that delivers noninvasive, low-temperature photothermal therapy for melanoma while simultaneously activating multiple programmed cell death pathways.

Melanoma causes over 80% of skin cancer-related deaths, and its aggressiveness, metastasis and drug resistance limit conventional surgery and chemoradiotherapy. The new patch is a bandage-like construct in which CuO-embedded LIG acts as the active therapeutic layer and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) provides a biocompatible, breathable, conformable matrix. Chemically inert and soft on the skin, the LIG-Cu/PDMS hybrid is fabricated via a cold-transfer method, remaining transparent and stretchable and enabling intimate contact, repeated use and potentially prolonged Cu²⁺ release under controlled stimulation.

A research team led by KAIST (The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) has unveiled a molecular-level mechanism that explains how graphene oxide (GO) can be both strongly antibacterial and yet biocompatible, paving the way for next‑generation hygienic materials that could reduce reliance on conventional antibiotics.

GO has long been studied as a promising biomedical material thanks to its biocompatibility and excellent antibacterial performance, but the origin of these apparently conflicting behaviors has remained controversial. The new work shows that the key lies in the controlled physicochemical and biomimetic features of GO: abundant oxygen functional groups on the GO basal surface drive highly specific interactions with a bacterial‑signature phospholipid, palmitoyloleoylphosphatidylglycerol (POPG), while sparing mammalian cell membranes.