Digital breast tomosynthesis increases cancer detection over full-field mammography

A new article compares cancer detection rates (CDR) for screening digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) versus full-field digital mammography (FFDM). Researchers found that DBT results in 'significantly increased CDR' — irrespective of tumor type, size, or grade of cancer.

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New silk materials can wrinkle into detailed patterns, then unwrinkle to be 'reprinted'

Engineers have developed silk materials that can wrinkle into highly detailed patterns — including words, textures and images as intricate as a QR code or a fingerprint. The patterns are stable, but can be erased by flooding the surface of the silk with vapor, allowing the surface to be printed again. The researchers demonstrate multiple examples of the silk wrinkle patterns, and envision a wide range of potential applications for optical electronic devices.

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Structural color printing of 3D microscale objects by shrinking photonic crystals

Researchers have developed a 'coloring-by-shrinking' method to print arbitrary 3D microscopic objects exhibiting structural colors. The design consisted of woodpile photonic crystals with varying lattice constants as the 3D building blocks. These structures remain colorless until they are heat treated, causing them to shrink and manifest color, a result of their lattice constants shrinking down below the wavelength of visible light. The team printed a colorful microscopic Eiffel Tower with structural colors, demonstrating feature sizes smaller than 100 nm.

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Secure printing with water-based invisible ink

Researchers have developed a rewriteable paper coating that can encrypt secret information with relatively low-tech invisible ink — water. A message printed out by a water-jet printer on a manganese-complex-coated paper is invisible to the naked eye, but the message reveals itself under 254 nm UV light. The paper can be ready for another round of printing after erasing the message by heating it with a blow dryer for 15-30 seconds. The method allows reversible secure printing for at least 30 cycles.

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