Researchers at Rice University in Houston, Texas are working on a new approach to cancer treatment that uses the existing immune system to deliver drugs deep into tumors, using laser-activated nanoshells. By combining the nanoshells with white blood cells, patients are less likely to suffer harmful side-effects with their treatment as the drug payloads are only released once activated.

The technique uses spheres of glass that at 10% the size of a normal red blood cell, encased in a thin layer of gold. Drugs can then be loaded onto the outer layer until they are hit by light (or laser) that can harmlessly penetrate tissue - causing the load to detach and get to work.

As the technology continues to develop, this Trojan horse strategy can deliver drug payloads with higher accuracy and with less impact on healthy tissue.

The Sleep & Respiratory Care's (SRC) Compliance Lab started as a small test lab 20 years ago. Today, it boasts a space of roughly 8,000 square feet and contains three types of test areas where employees can run tests to ensure that Philips develops and deploys safe, compliant and reliable products. It's an Intertek-certified Satellite Level 3 lab. This means that the lab has permission to independently conduct tests and simply submit the reports to Intertek for a swift review of the data to gain final certification.

To maintain Satellite Level 3 certification, the lab undergoes an extensive annual audit by Intertek. Here, the Philips Quality System, the calibration records of all equipment, and the training records of all lab employees are extensively reviewed.

Most importantly, auditors evaluate the knowledge and testing capabilities of all personnel in the lab.

Royal Philips NV published this content on 06 December 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 06 December 2017 14:16:11 UTC.

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