Researchers at the University of Toronto have developed a miniaturized chemical heater that can precisely heat biological samples during diagnostic tests, but does not require electricity or any specialized equipment to work. The low-cost technology is based on the exothermic reaction that occurs when lithium encounters water, and the precise shape (Read more...)
Tag: Materials
Brain Implant Powered and Controlled by Magnetic Fields
Neural implants may provide treatment options for a wide variety of ailments, including Parkinson’s and epilepsy, but such devices have to work for long periods of time in a very difficult environment inside the cranium. One challenge is providing power to brain implants and another is communicating with such implants to control their functio (Read more...)
Scientists Make Organs Transparent
Whole organs are difficult to study in minute detail, as they have to be sliced into extremely thin sections to map out their interior. CT and magnetic resonance imaging help to an extent, but researchers at the Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, and Technical University of Munich in Germany have managed to make [ (Read more...)
Artificial Tissue Patches to Heal Damaged Hearts
Post myocardial infarction (heart attack), damaged heart tissue doesn’t tend to heal very well. Not only is the pumping action weakened due to muscle cells dying, but the electrical signaling through the heart can also be impeded. Scientists at Trinity College Dublin have now developed remarkable new patches that mimic the electrical conducti (Read more...)
3D Printed Implants With Layers of Living Cells
3D printing replacement tissues and organs is still in the early stages of development, but it is clear that custom printed implants will have to integrate multiple types of cells in different locations in order to perform like native tissues. Researchers at Rice University have just unveiled a new method of 3D printing solid plastic […]
Textiles from Human Cells for Replacement Vessels, Tissues, Organs
Scientists at University of Bordeaux/French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) have developed a completely new biological material, made using human fibroblast cells, that can be turned into sutures, vascular grafts, and many other medical devices and tissue replacements. They showed that their Cell-Assembled extracellular M (Read more...)
New Customizable Bio-Ink for Printing Organs, Tissues
3D printing of tissues and organs requires a bio-ink that can host the living cells that are required for every unique application. A viable construct requires an extracellular matrix that will have the right mechanical and biochemical properties for the intended cells. Researchers at Rutgers University believe they’re on track to being able (Read more...)
Contact Lenses, Skin Patches, Tatoo Inks Exposed to UV Change Color to Warn of Exposure
Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light can lead to the development of skin cancers, so limiting how much time one spends under the Sun’s rays and using sunscreen when necessary is critically important. Currently, there are few tools available that notify users of their UV exposure, especially those that are easy to wear, non-intrusive, and can [& (Read more...)
4D Printing to Make Barbs for Microneedle Arrays
Microneedle arrays are promising as a way to help heal wounds, administer drugs, and sense a variety of biomarkers of health and disease. Because of their tiny size and smooth surface, microneedles don’t stay put in the tissues they’re attached to and tend to fall off if not kept in place by some means. Now, […]
New Membranes to Make Extracorporeal Oxygenation More Effective
When lungs fail because of acute respiratory distress and cannot be used to deliver oxygen to patients via conventional ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has to be employed. ECMOs remove carbon dioxide from whole blood and replace it with oxygen thanks to a membrane oxygenator. While such artificial lungs are effective for sho (Read more...)
Biorobotic Hybrid Heart to Help Develop New Cardiac Implants
Prosthetic heart valves, ventricular assist devices, and other cardiac implants go through an extensive research and development process, followed by testing on animals before human trials. There is no machine that simulates the function of the heart with any sufficient accuracy for comprehensive use by device designers, but researchers at MIT are (Read more...)
Researchers Develop High Sensitivity Electronic Skin Material
The development of electronic skin is certainly an important part of future prosthetic devices. To make a high quality artificial skin, one would have to make a very flexible system seeded with many sensors, all wired somehow to a central core where the data can be interpreted. This requires pretty impressive material design skill, but […]
Liquid Metal Biosensors for Healthcare Monitoring
Flexible biosensors are a popular new field of research. Soft pressure sensors are of particular interest because there are many applications for them in healthcare. Most flexible pressure sensors are based on solid-state components that tend to rely on carbon nanotubes and graphene. Carbon nanotubes or graphene flakes are seeded through a stretchy (Read more...)
Nanoparticles Direct Immune System to Scrub Atherosclerotic Plaques
The buildup of plaques within blood vessel walls is the underlying cause of strokes and heart attacks. These plaques contain many dead or dying cells that are not flushed out by the immune system fast enough. Now, researchers from Stanford are reporting on a new drug-carrying nanoparticle that can seek out atherosclerotic plaques and stimulate [&he (Read more...)
GammaTiles Help Prevent Recurrence of Malignant Brain Tumors After Surgery
GT Medical Technologies, a company based in Tempe, Arizona, won FDA clearance for its GammaTiles to be used to prevent malignant brain tumors in newly diagnosed patients. The devices, about the size of a postage stamp, contain Cesium-131, a radioactive isotope with a half life of about ten days. The collagen material within which the […]
Magnetic Microbots Deliver Stem Cells to Heal Knee Cartilage
As has been widely hyped for many years now, mesenchymal stem cells have the capacity to heal all sorts of damage in our bodies. The reality has been more complicated, since it is actually very difficult to get these cells to perform their magic just where we want them to. Damaged cartilage, for example, doesn’t […]
Portable Nanoplasmonic Imager Detects Sepsis Biomarkers
Sepsis is an incredibly dangerous condition, typically occurring within hospitals. According to a recent study nearly 20% of all deaths worldwide are caused by sepsis, as it is a disease that quickly gets out of control if not treated early and properly. At present, there is no easy way for clinicians to quickly provide a […]
Magnetized Particles Show Live Metabolic Activity of Breast Cancer
Current imaging methods that are used to spot tumors don’t provide much information about the rate of activity of the cells making up the diseased tissues. Breast cancer tumors, for example, are mostly classified into a few categories based on hormone receptor and HER2 expression. Researchers at Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute and the (Read more...)
Antimicrobial Layer for Plastic Food Wrap Developed
Bacteria can take a ride and proliferate on the plastic wrap that foods are commonly packaged in. Researchers at Penn State have developed a way to bond a non-toxic transparent antimicrobial material to the ubiquitous polyethylene wrap that meats, vegetables, and mushrooms are sold in. The antimicrobial layer is made of a pullulan-based biopolymer, (Read more...)
Battery Powered Self-Moisturizing Contact Lenses
Scientists at Tohoku University in Japan have reported in journal Advanced Materials Technologies on the development of a contact lens that moisturizes the eye using tears in a reservoir behind the lower eyelid. The eye can dry up when covered with a contact lens, often leading to serious cases of dry eye syndrome that can […]