Top News of Last Week with ANA
Azad News Agency (ANA) published a number of scientific and technological news during the past week whose top ones are as follows:
Iran-Made Jet Plasma Device Treats Chronic, ِDrug-Resistant Diabetic Wounds
A faculty member of Islamic Azad University’s Tabriz branch produced a Jet Plasma device which can be used for the definite treatment of chronic and drug-resistant diabetic wounds.
“The Jet Plasma device is capable of paving the ground for rejuvenating the skin in addition to healing chronic and drug-resistant diabetic wounds," Alireza Mohammadian, a PhD of plasma physics, a faculty member of Islamic Azad University’s Tabriz branch, and the managing director of Plasma Fanavar Rasta company, told ANA.
“The device has been developed with therapeutic purposes (plasma therapy). Plasma is an ionized gas that, in addition to electrons and ions, contains free radicals, ultraviolet radiation and electromagnetic fields,” he added.
Mohammadian explained that the combination of these components produces antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties on the skin and wound, adding that medical plasma is produced by injecting energy into a neutral gas, and after contact with the skin, it quickly sublimes the surface cells and creates collagen and elastin fibers by causing micro burns on the surface of the skin and transferring controlled heat deep into the skin which ultimately leads to skin rejuvenation.
Noting that the high radio frequency welding machine (dielectric welding) is another product of his company, he said, “In the high radio frequency welding machine, high frequency electric fields are used to induce heat and melt thermoplastic base materials like polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyurethanes and polymers such as nylon, PET, EVA and some ABS resins.”
Iranian Researcher Produces Micro Sensors for Assessment of Fish Health
An Iranian researcher has produced micrometer hydrophane sensors which is an estimating tool to monitor and evaluate the environment and fish health under water.
Mojtaba Shams Natri, who is the researcher that has produced the miniature sensors, told the Iranian media that he produced the estimating tool while doing his Ph.D researcher project at Babol Noshirvani University of Technology.
He explained that the MEMS (micro-electromechanical system) is a miniature machine that has both mechanical and electronic components.
“At the beginning of my project, I worked with my supervisor (Dr. Ganji) on the microphone sensor that he himself had designed andand made in 2010, we published an article in that field together with him,” he said.
“Then, for my MS thesis, I picked micrometric sensors for fingerprint detection, which are very useful in mobile phones, laptops and security systems today,” he added.
"In the doctoral course, I tried to pick a topic that the country needs and investigate a new structure in this field. For that purpose, I chose the micrometer-sized hydrophone sensor as a doctoral thesis, the focus of which is to design it from the structure found in nature and on the bodies of fish. It has the feature to work on both active and inactive sonar types.”
Iranian Scientists Indigenize Virus Culture, Harvest Device for Production of Vaccine
Specialists of an Iranian knowledge-based company succeeded in manufacturing a virus culturing and harvesting device in the livestock and poultry vaccination industry by using domestic technical equipment.
“Considering the fact that the virus culturing and harvesting device was needed in the Iranian laboratories, we tried to produce and indigenize it,” Alireza Karimzadeh, the founder and head of the knowledge-based team, told ANA.
Elaborating on the process of virus injection by the device, he said that the "SPF" eggs, for instance, are placed in the boxes inside the device, then thin needles containing the virus with a small diameter gently hit the egg shells, and then the samples become viral.
“Mostly, the process of culturing and harvesting the virus in different countries is conducted manually. The advantage of this device as a knowledge-based product is to facilitate the virus injection process without human intervention,” Karimzadeh said.
“Making an injection pump with the accuracy of one hundredth of a cc and designing optical sensors to monitor the movement of samples are among the advantages of this device,” he said, adding that the virus culturing and harvesting device had been designed and produced in Italy, the US and China until now.
Iranian Scientists Find More Similarities between Genes of Human, Zebrafish
Iranian researchers in a recent study reviewed similarities of KLF2, MSX1 and SOX9 genes expression in zebrafish and human.
In recent studies, the focus on zebrafish, as a suitable laboratory model for studying vertebrate gene function, has increased dramatically.
The Iranian scientists, namely Mehdi Ahmadifar, Reihaneh Balali, Sadaf Reihani and Zeinab Jarban evaluated the similarity between the three genes KLF2, MSX1 and SOX9 in humans and zebrafish.
The KLF2 gene plays a role in heart and immunity system of humans and zebrafish. In zebrafish, KLF2 gene is involved in immunogenesis and angiogenesis. This gene can increase the expression of thrombomodulin and endothelial nitric oxide synthase for human angiogenesis and vascular volume modulation.
Zebrafish and human MSX genes are involved in the development of the ethmoid plate and are expressed in the neural crest and pre-placodal ectoderm. In zebrafish and humans, members of the SOX family play an important role in embryogenesis and sex determination; therefore, understanding the relationship between zebrafish and human genes is important for effective modeling of human genetic diseases.
The results of the research have been published in the journal Health Biotechnology and Biopharma.
Iranian company Domestically Produces Variable Slit Spectrophotometers
Iranian experts at a knowledge-based company have successfully designed and developed a spectroscope with adjustable slit, which makes it possible to achieve different resolutions and sensitivities desired by users by changing the slit.
According to the Iranian Vice Presidency for Science and Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy, this knowledge-based company is the first firm in Iran that has manufactured spectrophotometers with adjustable slit. It allows the users to obtain their favored resolutions and sensitivities by changing the slit.
This variable slit feature, along with the capability to reach a resolution of 0/05 nanometer has made this spectrometer to stand out among others similar products produced by other companies in Iran.
Mohammad Bayani, the managing director of the company, said about their product that spectrometers are portable and compact instruments used for measuring spectral components of a physical phenomenon in the UV, VIS, and NIR areas.
“Our company's compact spectrometers along with their software, which use a CMOS detector with 4096 arrays and gratings with different line densities, are used for the range of 170-1,100 nm and can be used for various applications of research and development, product analysis, training, and even OEM,” he said.
"The multi-purpose software of the device allows the user to easily employ the spectrometer in various applications such as Raman spectroscopy, absorption and transmission, reflection, fluorescence, etc. for different solid and liquid materials. Also, this software has the capability to remove ambient light, save information in the form of images and two-column numbers, and also the capability to find the peaks of different spectra, etc,” Bayani said while pointing to capabilities of software of the spectrometer instrument.
Iranian Startup Team Develops Smart Pharmacy Management Assistant Platform
Specialists at an Iranian startup IT team stationed at Azadi Innovation Park designed and developed a smart web-based pharmacy management assistant platform.
“The startup web application designed by our team, which has been designed for managing pharmacies, is a smart assistant in the field of selling pharmaceutical products special to pharmacy managers,” Amir Qarabaqi, the founder and head of the startup team, told ANA.
He added that the product facilitates certain jobs in the field of drug sales and pharmacy management, including buying, selling and warehousing.
“After data is fed to the system by the pharmacy manager or the user, special alarms will be sent to the user to perform certain tasks like paying cash and buying the drugs needed by the pharmacy (when the drug expires),” Qarabaqi said.
“So far, nearly 53 pharmacies have become members of this platform and have user accounts,” he added.
Iranian-Made Ammonia Synthesis Catalysts Utilized in Hengam Petrochemical Methanol Synthesis Reactor
LTS and Methanation catalysts produced in a technological company in Iran were loaded and utlized in Hengam Petrochemical Methanol Synthesis Reactor.
Hengam Petrochemical company with the capacity of producing 2,200 tons of ammonia per day is located in South Pars Special Economic Zone (Phase 2 Petrochemical Projects). In 2007, this petrochemical complex signed a license purchase contract and the basic engineering package of its ammonia unit with a Danish company. But, after several years now, the ammonia unit of the complex has entered the production phase with the catalysts of one of the Iranian technology companies.
After examining Iran's catalysts market, Hengam Petrochemicals gave the production, loading and commissioning of its Methanato and LTS reactors to an Iranian technological company, considering the suitable performance of its ammonia synthesis catalysts in the trial and industrial phases.
A complicated technology has been used to produce the LTS catalysts employed in Hemgan Petrochemicals. These catalysts were produced by experts at the knowledge-based Iranian company after conducting continuous research and passing successful trial phases. They are currently loaded and launched in the reactors of the Hengam petrochemical ammonia unit.
In ammonia production plants, in order to avoid poisoning of ammonia synthesis catalysts, it is necessary to remove tiny amounts of carbon oxides from the synthesis gas. Therefore, Methanation catalysts are very important as they are considered as protectors of ammonia synthesis reactor catalysts.
Iranian Scientists Manufacture Advanced Raman Microscope
Iranian researchers at Shahid Beheshti University managed to design and produce advanced Raman microscope used for identification of molecules and studying chemical bonds.
“Among the most important achievements of Shahid Beheshti University, I can mention the advanced Raman microscope,” Qassem Qassemi, a representative of Shahid Beheshti University's Research Department, told ANA.
“Raman microscope is a spectroscopic device capable of spectroscopic measurement of areas with micron dimensions,” he explained.
“It is a laser-based spectroscopy system used to perform Raman spectroscopy. The Raman spectroscopy method is a precise method for identifying and characterizing a wide range of materials, and we have managed to indigenize it based on detailed research,” Qassemi said.
Process of Making Blood Irradiator in Iran Enters Clinical Phase
The process of designing and manufacturing the device for irradiating blood products, has reached the clinical phase in Iran, according to the head of the Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute (NSTRI).
“This device was produced in this research institute and with a memorandum of understanding signed with Tehran University of Medical Sciences, and it has now entered the clinical phase,” the NSTRI chairman Dr. Kashian said.
He noted that major companies producing blood irradiation systems are mainly located in Canada and Germany, but due to The US-led sanctions, the imports of those devices faced challenges in Iran a few years ago.
“Usually, any equipment or drug that is produced in the country and is supposed to be used in medical field, would necessarily go under pre-clinical or biological assessments, that is why, the device we designed also needed biological evaluations and after that the clinical evaluations will be followed,” the NSTRI head added.
“In clinical evaluations, the blood products irradiated by this device are injected into the patient's body and the patient is examined to see if the desired impacts have been achieved in the patient. Moreover, there has to be confidence that there has been no problem for the patient,” he continued.
Iran Inaugurates 1st Wound Clinic Based on Cold Plasma Technology
Iran inaugurated the first wound healing clinic which treats patients with the help of cold plasma technology in a ceremony participated by Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami.
Addressing the ceremony, Eslami referred to the construction of three plasma-stimulated wound healing clinics in the cities of Varamin, Karaj and Qom, and said 50 such clinics will be founded across Iran next year.
He added that the plasma technologies developed by the AEOI have also been employed for the treatment of different cancers and cardiac diseases in cooperation with medical universities.
Eslami underlined that Iran is currently producing 50 types of radiopharmaceuticals for the diagnosis and treatment of different diseases.
Cold atmospheric plasma therapy is a new and latest approach whose arrival has astonished experts all around the world from the area of biological and pharmaceutical sciences.
Owing to its simple and non-invasive nature, this technique has been admired and encouraged to use different therapeutic regimes like wound healing, ulceration, and cancer.
Iranian Experts Make Special Padlock with Capability to Scan Thieves
Iranian specialists at a technological company managed to produce a special padlock which can scan the thieves and connect to a CCTV camera and Wi-Fi.
Experts at the technological company stationed at the development center of the Islamic Azad University’s Central Tehran branch succeeded in producing the padlock which is able to record and send data remotely.
This product enjoys the night vision capability and is equipped with a microphone to record the information remotely and store it in the database.
“You can even connect to the CCTV with the mobile phone's Wi-Fi and watch the footages inside the camera or its images,” Alireza Aqaqoli, a medical engineering student of Islamic Azad University’s Central Tehran branch and designer of the product, told ANA.
“This product can also be charged wirelessly with a special battery and can keep the charge from 8 hours to 6 months,” he added.
Iran's Leading University Opens New Growth Center to Boost Knowledge-Based Firms
A professor of the Islamic Azad University-Damavand branch, announced the launch of a growth center at the university with the aim of boosting knowledge-based companies and startups.
Mehdi Kazemi, a professor of Industrial Engineering at the Islamic Azad University-Damavand Branch said in an interview with ANA that the "Aratel" technological unit was launched with the aim of developing successful start-ups at a fast pace.
He said that Aratel was opened in response to the need of the startups and knowledge-based companies, adding, “This technology unit was launched with the aim of boosting successful start-ups in the shortest period of time possible. This space provides training, guidance, collective work, and supply resources and all-out support to active start-ups in accordance with the needs of the market and identifying opportunities for the rapid growth of these start-ups.”
He announced the previous and new areas of activity of the “accelerator” (Aratel Growth Center) to be information technology (IT), Internet of Things (IOT), telecom, health and steel, internship of a number of students in the fields of health, making product prototypes, mentoring students in the fields of marketing and mentoring.
“So far, a sizeable number of students have benefited from accelerator training, internships and mentoring,” Kazemi said.
Industrial Autoclaves Indigenized in Iran for Production of Carbon Fiber Parts
A knowledge-based company in Iran managed to fully indigenize the design and manufacturing technology of modern industrial autoclave devices, providing the ground for production of carbon fibers used in making aircraft and drone parts.
“A strategic equipment of our company is the industrial autoclave device which is used in strategic industries like aircraft manufacturing, automobile manufacturing, and tile and ceramic and tire and tube production, and construction and glass industries,” said Mohammad Limouchi, the managing director of the knowledge-based company.
He added that production of earthquake and fire-resistant building glass without the use of precise industrial autoclaves that are controlled by computers is not possible either.
Autoclaves are often used to process critical parts that must meet stringent safety and quality requirements. Autoclave curing helps achieve the correct resin-to-fiber ratio in aerospace and aircraft composite parts. During this process, the part is placed in a vacuum chamber where it is exposed to high temperatures.
24th Int’l TELECOM Exhibition Kicked Off in Iran
The 24th International Exhibition of Telecommunications, Information Technology and Digital Economy titled ‘Iran TELECOM 2023’ started work at Tehran Permanent International Fairground on Saturday, December 23.
The exhibition was inaugurated in the presence of Iranian Vice-President for Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy Rouhollah Dehqani Firouzabadi, Managing-Director of the National Telecommunications Company Majid Soltani and Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technology Meysam Abedi.
In this exhibition, over 160 engineering, research and development, production and export companies will present their products for four days.
The 24th International Exhibition of Telecommunications, Information Technology and Digital Economy (Iran TELECOM 2023)is being held with participation of 155 domestic companies and 6 foreign firms.
15 specialized panels and 22 workshops in the field of new technologies will also be held by academic professors and specialists during the exhibition.
Also, over 80 foreign guests from 30 companies from Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Armenia, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, China and Russia will attend the exhibition.
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