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Health

Clinical diagnostics

News and Updates

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A NIST Standard for More Accurate Diagnoses of JC Virus

July 19, 2022

A new NIST Standard Reference Material supports the accurate measurement of the amount of a common but potentially dangerous virus in patients. Most of us have

Petri dish holds brown material with several different types of circular microbes.

Spotlight: Going With the Gut for the Future of Health

June 27, 2022

NIST researchers are developing a human gut microbiome reference material.

Measuring Up: The Phantom of the Library

May 4, 2022

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has revolutionized medical diagnostics and research by providing a non-invasive way to investigate internal tissue structures

First Complete Human Genome Poised to Strengthen Genetic Analysis, NIST Study Shows

March 31, 2022

Alongside the newly updated human genome, which fills in long-standing gaps to fully spell out the more than 3 billion letters that compose our genetic code, a

Not Letting It Slip By: NIST Discovery Could Increase Accuracy in Measuring Blood Flow for Cancer Diagnosis, Other Applications

March 22, 2022

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have discovered a potential source of error when using acoustic waves to measure the

Spotlight: Mimicking Our Own Senses to Detect Ovarian Cancer

March 17, 2022

Discovering diseases early can mean successful treatment for patients, but many diagnostic tests aren’t sensitive enough for early detection. That’s why NIST

Commerce Department Awards $54 Million in American Rescue Act Grants to Increase Access to Advanced Manufacturing Opportunities

February 28, 2022

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded nearly $54 million in grants for 13 high

New Benchmark Could Improve Detection of Genetic Variants Linked to Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Other Diseases

February 7, 2022

The stretches of DNA that differ from person to person, called variants, are a major part of what makes us unique, but they can also put us at greater risk of

Megan Cleveland with white lab coat and safety glasses in front of a lab bench with pipettes.

RNA Reference Materials Are Useful for Standardizing COVID-19 Tests, Study Shows

January 20, 2022

Scientists track and monitor the circulation of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, using methods based on a laboratory technique called polymerase

NIST Awards More Than $3.5 Million to High-Tech Small Businesses to Support Innovations in Manufacturing, Medical Diagnostics and More

December 7, 2021

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded more than $3.5 million in funding to 17

New NIST Reference Material Helps Manufacturers Better Assess Their Biological Drug Products

November 15, 2021

Sugars not only provide nourishment in the food you eat but can also act as biomarkers for detecting disease. When certain types of simple sugars, such as

A person wearing safety goggles works at a table of scientific equipment.

JILA’s Comb Breathalyzer Is Now a Thousandfold More Sensitive to Disease Biomarkers

October 4, 2021

JILA scientists have boosted the sensitivity of their decade-old frequency comb breathalyzer a thousandfold and can detect additional biomarkers of disease —

A multicolored sphere made up of a dense network of colored ribbons against a black background.

New Collaboration Aims to Improve Measurement of Viral Vectors Used in Cutting-Edge Gene Therapies

July 27, 2021

ROCKVILLE, Md. — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing

A woman wearing a mask stands over a yellow sphere at a lab bench.

NIST-Led Study Finds Variations in Quantitative MRI Scanners’ Measurements

June 30, 2021

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is widely used in medicine to detect, diagnose and treat diseases such as cancer, while relying on experts’ interpretation of

Identifying Individual Molecules: NIST Study Suggests How to Build a Better ‘Nanopore’ Biosensor

April 27, 2021

Researchers have spent more than three decades developing and studying miniature biosensors that can identify single molecules. In five to 10 years, when such

A woman wearing purple gloves adjusts tubing inside a scientific device.

Spotlight: Screening for Kidney Disease With Accurate Measurements

April 15, 2021

If you have a fear of needles, getting a urine test is a pain-free way for doctors to screen for kidney disease or any signs of kidney damage. Clinicians

NIST Quality Assurance Program for Health Assessment Measurements Open for Registration

March 26, 2021

The latest exercise in NIST's Health Assessment Measurements Quality Assurance Program ( HAMQAP) is open for registration. HAMQAP, a collaboration with the

NIST Publishes a Beginner’s Guide to DNA Origami

January 8, 2021

In a technique known as DNA origami, researchers fold long strands of DNA over and over again to construct a variety of tiny 3D structures, including miniature

A medical worker administers a nasal swab test to a person in a car.

NIST Innovation Could Improve Detection of COVID-19 Infections

October 5, 2020

A multidisciplinary research team at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a way to increase the sensitivity of the primary

NIST Scientists Get Soft on 3D Printing

September 22, 2020

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new method of 3D-printing gels and other soft materials. Published in

A twist and a spin: harnessing two quantum properties transforms a neutron beam into a powerful probe of material structure

October 29, 2019

By cleverly manipulating two properties of a neutron beam, NIST scientists and their collaborators have created a powerful probe of materials that have complex