Engineers at the University of British Columbia have collaborated with the Japanese automotive company Honda to develop an e-skin for robotic prostheses that allows such devices to sense their environment in significant detail. The soft skin is highly sensitive, letting robotic hands to perform tasks that require a significant degree of dexterity a (Read more...)
Tag: Materials
Magnetic Dressing Improves Diabetic Wound Healing
Researchers at the National University of Singapore have developed a magneto-responsive hydrogel wound dressing that also contains two different regenerative cell types. The hydrogel is also embedded with magnetic particles that can be stimulated using an external magnetic field. The action of the magnetic field on the gel-encapsulated particles ca (Read more...)
Magnetoelectric Material Stimulates Neurons Minimally Invasively
Researchers at Rice University have developed a magnetoelectric material that converts a magnetic field into an electric field. The material can be formulated such that it can be injected into the body, near a neuron, and then an alternating magnetic field can be applied to the area from outside the body. Magnetic fields are very […]
Microfluidic System Incorporates Eight Organ Tissues for Drug Testing
Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a sophisticated microfluidic system that incorporates tissue from up to eight different organ systems. The technology is unprecedented in allowing researchers to study complex interactions between different organs during disease. Moreover, it also allows for more comprehensive drug testing that (Read more...)
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...)
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...)
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 […]
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...)
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 […]
Technique Creates Multilayered Tubular Cell Constructs
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have developed a new method to create multilayered tubes from cells. The technique could be very useful for recreating multilayered tubular constructs that are found in the body, such as the intestines and blood vessels. Accurately modeling such complex structures in the lab could open new doors in terms [ (Read more...)
3D Printed Heart Muscle Beats
Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed a technique that allows them to 3D print a heart ventricle, that can then go on to beat rhythmically. The technology could allow researchers to create heart models to test new cardiac drugs and may even pave the way for […]
Magnetic Tentacle Robots for Minimally Invasive Procedures
Researchers at the University of Leeds in the UK have developed a magnetic tentacle robot that is intended for use in minimally invasive medical procedures, such as the treatment of tumors in the lungs. The soft tentacles are made from silicone. They are unlikely to cause tissue damage, and contain a series of magnets that […]
Light-Activated Hydrogel Thickens, Reshapes Thinning Cornea
Researchers at the University of Ottawa have developed a light-activated hydrogel treatment for corneal disease. Many of the people who suffer from corneal disease, which can include corneal thinning, are not suitable for a corneal transplant, and obtaining transplants is a challenge for those who are. This technology is intended to assist with thi (Read more...)
Semi-Automated Manufacture of E-Skin Sensors
Engineers at the Technical University of Munich in Germany have developed a system that allows them to semi automate the production of tactile sensors. Such sensors can provide robotic systems, such as robotic prostheses, with a sense of compression and tension with regard to the objects and surfaces they come in contact with. Most robotic […]
Biomaterial Injection Combines T Cell and Cancer Vaccine Treatments
Researchers at the Harvard Wyss Institute have developed an anti-cancer biomaterial treatment that combines adoptive T cell therapy and cancer vaccine technology to treat solid tumors. The researchers have called their technique SIVET, which is short for “synergistic in situ vaccination enhanced T cell”. The approach combines local delivery of cyto (Read more...)
Artificial Muscle Changes Stiffness with Voltage
Scientists at Queen Mary University of London have developed an artificial muscle that can change from soft to hard in response to a voltage change. The technology aims to mimic human muscles in both its movements and in its ability to sense forces and deformation. The muscle is made using carbon nanotubes that have been […]