Researchers at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom have developed a shape-shifting ball that can inflate and deflate in response to someone’s breath. The idea is an advancement of many techniques designed to help people de-stress and manage their mental health, which all focus on awareness of the breath. For instance, mindfulness meditatio (Read more...)
Author: Medgadged
Shear-Thinning Biomaterial for Embolic Applications: Interview with Upma Sharma, President and CEO of Arsenal Medical
Arsenal Medical, a medtech company based in Massachusetts, has developed Neocast, an embolic biomaterial designed for catheter-mediated embolization procedures. Conventional materials for embolization can have several limitations, including a lack of radiopacity, catheter clogging, catheter entrapment at the delivery site, solvent-mediated pain at (Read more...)
Soft Implant Uses AI to Deliver Drugs Despite Fibrous Encapsulation
Scientists at the University of Galway in Ireland and MIT have collaborated to create a soft robotic implant that can work to fight fibrotic encapsulation and deliver drugs despite the presence of fibrous scar tissue. The device, which the researchers have termed the FibroSensing Dynamic Soft Reservoir (FSDSR), is designed to reside in the body […]
(Read more...)Lollipop Puts the Fun in Saliva Collection
Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a technique to make saliva collection for diagnostic purposes a little less disgusting and a little more fun and pleasant. Saliva collection often acts as a less invasive alternative than throat swabs in the detection of a variety of pathogens, such as that causing streptococcal soar throat (Read more...)
Refillable Device for Drug Delivery Past the Blood-Brain Barrier: Interview with Mike Maglin, CEO at CraniUS
CraniUS, a medtech company based in Baltimore, has developed the NeuroPASS drug delivery system. The technology is designed to deliver drugs to the brain, and it can bypass the blood-brain barrier. This layer of specialized endothelium significantly restricts which drug molecules can enter the brain, normally greatly limiting treatment options for (Read more...)
Refillable Device for Drug Delivery Past the Blood-Brain Barrier: Interview with Mike Maglin, CEO at CraniUS
CraniUS, a medtech company based in Baltimore, has developed the NeuroPASS drug delivery system. The technology is designed to deliver drugs to the brain, and it can bypass the blood-brain barrier. This layer of specialized endothelium significantly restricts which drug molecules can enter the brain, normally greatly limiting treatment options for (Read more...)
Optical Strain Sensors for Rehab
Researchers at Pohang University of Science & Technology in South Korea have developed a durable strain sensor that can detect complex body movements. The technology will be useful for patients undergoing physical rehabilitation, allowing physical therapists to assess their movements in significant detail and measure progress. Conventional stra (Read more...)
Droplet Battery Harnesses Ionic Gradients for Bioelectronic Implants
Researchers at Oxford University have developed a tiny battery that can power small implantable devices, such as drug delivery technologies. The new battery is inspired by the ionic gradients that electric eels use to generate electricity. It involves tiny droplets of a conductive hydrogel that are placed near each other. Each droplet has a differe (Read more...)
Implantable Bioreactor for Kidney Cells
Researchers at the University of California San Francisco have developed an implantable bioreactor that may pave the way for artificial kidneys. Dialysis and kidney transplants both have significant disadvantages for patients with kidney failure, and so scientists are trying to develop a lab created kidney that would not require harsh immunosuppres (Read more...)
Virtual Reality Headset Takes EEG Measurements
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed an electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor that is incorporated into a virtual reality headset. The technology can measure brain activity while someone is undergoing an immersive virtual reality experience. The device may assist in enhancing medical virtual reality interventions, such as tho (Read more...)
Etched Nanopillars Kill Bacteria, Fungi on Titanium Implants
Researchers at RMIT in Australia have developed a drug-free approach to kill bacteria and fungi that can infect surfaces on medical implants. Such pathogens can cause serious and difficult-to-treat infections around medical implants, sometimes requiring the removal of the implant. In addition, many microbes are increasingly resistant to common anti (Read more...)
Growth Factor-Loaded Microparticles Enhance 3D Bioprinted Muscle
Researchers at the Terasaki Institute in Los Angeles have developed a new method to create 3D printed muscle constructs with enhanced muscle cell alignment and maturation. The technique involves creating microparticles loaded with insulin-like growth factor (IGF) using a microfluidic platform. Then, these particles are included in a bioink that als (Read more...)
Battery Charged by Tears for Smart Contact Lenses
Researchers at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have developed a tiny, flexible battery that is intended for use in smart contact lenses. The device is as thin as the human cornea and can be charged by a saline solution, which is particularly useful in the eye, as it is full of salty tears. When the […]
EEG Headset Could Spot Early Alzheimer’s Disease
Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have developed a technique that may spot the very early signs of Alzheimer’s disease, years before symptoms arise. The method may alert patients and clinicians to an increased risk of the disease, potentially allowing them to take steps to slow the disease progression. The method inv (Read more...)
Cells Release Insulin in Response to Music
Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an insulin delivery system that relies on music as a trigger. The unusual technology is based on calcium ion channels that typically reside in the cell membrane. Such channels are sensitive to mechanical deformation and these researchers discovered that sound waves will activate the channels. When insulin-pr (Read more...)
Brain Computer Interface Decodes Speech and Facial Expressions
Researchers at the University of California San Francisco have developed a brain computer interface that can lets someone with severe paralysis communicate with both speech and facial expressions, in the form of a digital avatar. The breakthrough advances what has been possible, with previous brain computer interface systems providing speech only, (Read more...)
Highly Precise Pressure Sensor for Laparoscopic or Robotic Surgical Tools
Researchers at the National University of Singapore have developed a highly sensitive pressure sensor that can provide haptic feedback for surgeons using laparoscopic tools or for use in robotic grippers as part of robotic surgical systems. The technology is inspired by the surface of the lotus leaf, which is extremely sensitive to the pressure exe (Read more...)
Microneedle Skin Patch Measures Cancer Biomarkers
Researchers at the Harvard Wyss Institute have developed a technique that lets clinicians to characterize and monitor melanoma. The system involves using a microneedle patch that can draw deep interstitial fluid into itself through a series of penetrating hyaluronic acid needles. The needles can later be dissolved to release the biomarkers into a t (Read more...)
Organoids Produce Tooth Enamel Proteins
Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine have developed a method to create stem cell-derived organoids that can produce tooth enamel proteins. The breakthrough could pave the way for lab grown enamel that can be used in dental repairs and may even allow for living fillings or completely new living teeth that can […]
Enzyme Treatment Strips Mucins from Cancer Cells
Researchers at Stanford University have developed a new type of cancer therapy. The technology targets mucins, sugar-coated proteins that help cancer cells to metastasize and avoid the immune system. In particular, mucins enable cancer cells to survive free-floating as they travel through the blood during metastasis and can also trick immune cells (Read more...)