Potential exposure to dangerous chemicals is a reality for many people working in mining and manufacturing, as well as medicine. While spills of liquids are easily detected, many gases are not. Sensitive wearable gas sensors stuck to the skin would be useful for gas exposure detection, but these devices have to be flexible, need a […]
Tag: Materials
Flexible Electronic Material Works as Wearable Air Conditioning
Controlling body heat is important in a variety of situations, particularly during heavy physical exertion and when patients have high fevers. Currently there are few methods of lowering one’s temperature, and many of those can be impractical, especially if a power source is required. Now, a team of scientists at the University of Missouri has […]
Light Sensitive GI Devices Break Up on Demand
Most medical devices that are placed within the gastrointestinal tract have to be removed eventually. Such procedures can be challenging to perform and require anesthesia, with all its associated risks and costs. For example, thousands of bariatric balloons are deployed every year and each one of them has to be fished out a few months […]
Fluorescent Tags That Can’t Be Copied to Verify Authentic Drugs
Sales of counterfeit drugs are disturbingly common around the world. Some patients end up not receiving necessary treatments, while others are harmed by ingesting whatever substances are inside the fake pills. Researchers at Purdue University have now come up with a way to tag medications so that forgers can’t do the same to their fakes. […]
UT Dallas Bioengineers Develop Artificial Cornea Model to Study Eye Injury
Bioengineers at UT Dallas with collaborators at UT Southwestern Medical Center were able to create corneal tissue models and utilize them to study how damaged eyes heal. Corneal keratocytes are programmed to assist if the eye is injured. The cornea is composed of threadlike collagen fibrils, arranged in a criss-cross pattern to guide keratocytes to […]
Wearables, Ingestibles, Invisibles: imec at CES 2020
The Belgian research organization imec has a dear spot in our hearts, as it helps to develop a lot of the technologies that power current and future medical devices (see flashbacks below). At CES in Las Vegas this year, imec’s Chris Van Hoof introduced us to the organization’s somewhat shifting focus toward wearable, ingestible, and, […]
Easy-to-Remove Superhydrophobic Bandage Speeds Clotting of Wounds
Researchers at ETH Zurich and National University of Singapore have developed a new type of bandage that does not stick to the wound while helping blood to clot beneath it. This is the first time scientists have combined both properties in one material and the capability allows the bandage to promote healing and be easily […]
Stretchy Skin-Like Sensor has Potential in Wound Healing and as Wearable
Researchers at the University of Toronto have developed a highly stretchable “skin”-like sensor that can be applied directly to our native skin. The material can measure changes in temperature, strain, and humidity, and can monitor the movement of underlying tissues. The sensor has potential as a wearable health monitor. For instance, the material could be […]
Bone Bandage Soaks up Adenosine Molecules to Repair Hard Tissue
Researchers from Duke University have developed a bone bandage that accumulates pro-healing adenosine molecules to accelerate bone repair. Bone fractures are complex, difficult injuries resulting in prolonged and sometimes incomplete repair. One way of approaching new treatments for bone fractures involves delivering new bone cells, which can promote healing. Yet, delivering these cells is limited […]
Flexible Sensor to Help Diagnose and Treat Swallowing Disorders
Swallowing disorders can be debilitating, even causing nutritional deficiencies in some patients. They can also be difficult to diagnose and require the use of expensive equipment that is only found in select hospitals. Exercises can help those that are diagnosed with certain conditions, but even those exercises require the use of costly devices. Researchers at […]
Bonding Rubber and Electrical Components for Soft Medical Sensors
Researchers at Imperial College London have developed a way to create a tight bond between rubber and electrical components. The method could pave the way for a variety of soft sensors for medical applications. For instance, such sensors could provide a signal when squeezed or stretched, with potential in monitoring patient rehabilitation after hand injury, […]
Bacterial Hydrogel Adheres to Gut to Treat Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute have developed a living bacterial hydrogel that can adhere to lesions in the gut wall to encourage healing and reduce inflammation. Consisting of genetically engineered bacteria that produce nanofibers that adhere to mucus, the resulting hydrogel could function as a novel probiotic therapy for inflammatory bowel disease. Approximately 1.6 million […]
Exclusive with CELLINK Co-Founders Erik Gatenholm and Dr. Héctor Martínez
CELLINK is a 3D bioprinting company based in Gothenburg, Sweden, and was one of the first companies in the world to offer 3D printable bioink, which is used to print human organs and tissues. In just four years of existence, the company has been able to commercialize products used in more than 700 labs and […]
Liver Chip Avoids Animal Testing, Makes Drug Research Easier, Faster
Low liver toxicity is a major hurdle that drug candidates have to demonstrate before they are used as therapeutic medications. This testing is usually performed using animals, including rodents and dogs, with livers that aren’t quite like ours. Animal studies are useful, but they often result in misleading information, which may not be realized until […]
Wireless Skin VR System For Prosthetic Users
Researchers from City University of Hong Kong and Northwestern University have developed a wearable “skin” that can impart a sense of touch through vibrations on the user’s skin beneath. The device is powered and controlled wirelessly, and could provide a sense of touch for prosthetic users and aid in rehabilitation. Imparting a sense of touch […]
Protective Membrane for Pacemakers to Make Replacement Surgeries Easier
Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a cellulose membrane to cover and protect implantable devices, such as pacemakers. The material can reduce fibrotic build up and make subsequent surgical removal of implants much easier. So far, the pouch-like device has been tested successfully in pigs, and the researchers hope to apply for clinical trials in […]
Flexible Wireless Oxygen Sensor for Monitoring Newborns at Home
Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute have developed a prototype wireless, flexible oxygen sensor the size of a band aid. The device can be stuck to the skin and can wirelessly monitor blood oxygen levels and transmit data through the internet to doctors and caregivers. The technology may allow ill newborns to go home with their […]
Electrospinning Drug Delivery Bandages Directly Onto Wounds
Electrospinning is a maturing manufacturing technology that is already being used in medicine to produce unusual materials with novel properties. It involves melting a polymer and extruding it through a narrow nozzle, while an electric field is used to pull and spin the polymer into a very fine mesh. When a biocompatible polymer is used, […]
Chemo-Loaded Nanoparticles Piggyback on Red Blood Cells to Treat Lung Cancer
Scientists at Harvard’s Wyss Institute have developed a technique to deliver chemotherapy to the lungs using red blood cells. The method involves binding chemotherapy-loaded nanoparticles to red blood cells, which are then injected into the bloodstream. Once the red blood cells reach the lungs they have to squeeze through the small capillaries and the resulting […]
Injectable Electrodes for Neuromodulation
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed an injectable flexible electrode that can aid in neuromodulation therapy, potentially replacing more rigid electrodes that do not mesh well with soft tissues. The injectable material consists of a silicone gel and small metal particles, and it forms a flexible bolus when injected around a target nerve. […]