
SERS Chip Diagnoses Heart Attacks in Five Minutes. A new blood test can diagnose heart attacks in five to seven minutes using a plasmonic metasurface and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). This test – which you can read more about here – developed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, significantly faster than current methods that can take hours, detects key cardiac biomarkers that signal a heart attack, improving the chances for timely medical intervention. "We were able to invent a new technology that can quickly and accurately establish if someone is having a heart attack."
Sulfur Haze. New insights into how air pollution forms at the molecular level have been uncovered by an international team of researchers who used a combination of spectroscopic techniques to study sulfur dioxide interactions at the boundary between liquid and vapor. Their findings (read more!) reveal significant differences in how sulfur species behave at the liquid-vapor interface and could improve climate models and our understanding of urban air pollution, particularly haze formation.
Researchers demonstrate a miniaturized spectrometer that can measure light with a 0.05 nm wavelength resolution – the same resolution that can be achieved on a device 1,000 times bigger. Link
Researchers integrate a detector system and a polaritonic platform in the same 2D material, enabling for the first time the detection of 2D polaritonic nanoresonators with spectral resolution, which could be used for sensing, on-chip electrical detection of molecules and gasses. Link
A new method – correlated vibrational spectroscopy – enables researchers to measure how water molecules behave when they participate in H-bond networks and could be used to clarify molecular-level details of any solution containing, for example, electrolytes, sugars, amino acids, DNA, or protein. Link
Researchers introduce a multiwavelength SERS approach combined with machine learning-based classification to improve the discrimination accuracy of human urine specimens for bladder cancer diagnosis. Link
Review underscores the continuous development in sample preparation and data integration, enhancing the accuracy and applicability of NMR and FTIR, positioning these techniques as “essential tools in modern metabolomic research.” Link
Innovation Awards Deadline: MONDAY
Last year, Gary Siuzdak’s XCMS-METLIN took the top spot in our annual Innovation Awards. Will #TeamMassSpec retain its crown? Well, that’s up to you – and our panel of expert judges.
To ensure that we don’t miss a commercially released technology or software solution that you think is especially innovative and impactful – including from smaller spin-offs or start ups, like last year’s winner – nominate now. The deadline is today!