Researchers at Yokohama National University in Japan have developed a technique to mass-produce “hair follicle germs” – cellular aggregates that can be implanted into the skin and allowing new hair to grow. The technique brings a regenerative medical therapy for hair loss closer to clinical reality. Hair loss can be psychologically challenging for the men […]
Tag: Materials
3D Printing Living Cells Into Useful Biomedical Objects
There have been a number of techniques recently developed for printing objects with living cells inside of them. The technology can lead to custom tissue replacements and other medical applications, but all these methods are quite slow. That’s because living cells have to somehow be carefully moved through microfluidic channels to mix with other components, such […]
Artificial Brain Synapses Replicated in a Chip
Our brains mainly consist of brain cells and the connections between them, making them quite modular and incredibly adaptable. Brain synapses, the connections between neurons, seem to be responsible for at least some of the computational magic that allows us to think, move, and respond to all sorts of stimuli. Being able to replicate the […]
Artificial Scales for Fixing Tissues, Attaching Medical Implants Inside Body
Scales, such as those on fish and other animals, exhibit an amazing ability to keep attached to soft tissue. They’re strong while being flexible, so scientists have been trying to recreate some of their qualities for use in implants and other medical devices. Now an international team of researchers, headed by a group at the University […]
milliDelta Robot Hoping to Power Microsurgeries of The Future
Surgical robots of the future will have to be fast, careful, and powerful in their capabilities. Movies, such as The Fifth Element, now more than 20 years old, have given us a glimpse into the future of medicine and bioprinting where robots can rapidly perform otherwise extremely tedious tasks. This future may not be far […]
milliDelta Robot Hoping to Power Microsurgeries of The Future
Surgical robots of the future will have to be fast, careful, and powerful in their capabilities. Movies, such as The Fifth Element, now more than 20 years old, have given us a glimpse into the future of medicine and bioprinting where robots can rapidly perform otherwise extremely tedious tasks. This future may not be far […]
Microfluidic Mixer Combines Fluids without Backflow to Make Advanced Portable Diagnostics Practical
Lab on a chip devices are designed to perform advanced diagnostics and drug testing using small samples of blood and other body fluids. We’ve written about many such devices, including for assessing the effectiveness of chemo and for picking out circulating tumor cells, but microfluidic technologies that rely on capillary or vacuum powered techniques have […]
3M Wants to Make Medical Adhesive Selection a Simpler Process for Design Engineers (CES 2018)
It was remarkable to observe at CES 2018 how many wearable devices have been developed for health and lifestyle applications. Many of these devices use adhesives to stick to people’s skin, sometimes for an hour, sometimes for a day, or even a week or longer. Also, there are developers out there that want implantable devices […]
Cryogenic 3D Printing to Make Replica Brain and Lung Tissues
Printing biological tissues, a necessary precursor to creating replacement organs, is not easy, but constructing extremely soft and fragile tissues that resemble the brain and lungs is even more difficult. Researchers at Imperial College London and Kings College London are now using extremely cold temperatures in combination with 3D printing to create objects out of […]
Biomaterial Scaffold to Culture T Cells for Immune Cell Therapy
Researchers at the Harvard Wyss Institute have developed a biomaterial scaffold that mimics the actions of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) in stimulating T cell growth and survival. The scaffold allowed the researchers to significantly expand T cell numbers in a dish, compared with existing culture methods, and could bring T cell therapies, such as anti-cancer treatments, […]
Draper’s Microfluidic Artificial Kidney Reproduces Real Thing at Cellular and Tissue Levels
Kidney injuries from exposure to too many drugs are common among certain groups of patients, particularly those spending time in the ICU. Kidney injuries can also happen during drug testing, wounding subjects while eliminating candidate drugs far along their development pipeline. Engineers at Draper have now developed a so-called kidney-on-a-chip, an organoid that mimics a […]
Implant Containing Living Pancreatic Cells Controls Blood Sugar Without Insulin Injections
Patients with Type I diabetes have a poorly functioning pancreas that doesn’t produce enough, or any, insulin to metabolize blood glucose. Constant and regular injections are a norm for millions suffering from the disease. But now researchers at Cornell University, working with others from Novo Nordisk and University of Michigan Medical School, have developed an implantable […]
Skin Patch Controls Blood Sugar Without Finger Pricks or Injections
Researchers at National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) have developed a special patch for Type 2 diabetics that helps to control glucose levels in a novel way. The technology, once fully proven out and optimized, may work for days or even weeks at a time. The patch is made of […]
Nanowire Brush Captures Extracellular Vesicles in Urine, May Help Screen for Cancer
At Nagoya University in Japan, researchers have developed a nanowire-based device to extract large numbers of microRNA strands found in urine. The technology may provide a way to identify the presence of cancers and other diseases through easy to gather patient samples. Over the past few years, researchers have been focusing on how cells within […]
480 Biomedical Develops Bioresorbable Stent as Strong as Metal
With every heartbeat blood is carried through the arteries to provide organs with life-sustaining oxygen and nutrients. In patients suffering from diseases such as atherosclerosis, arterial blood flow can be severely restricted, limiting the delivery of oxygen and nutrients. To re-establish blood flow, surgeons may place a stent to mechanically re-expand and hold the damaged […]
Microfluidic Device for Pushing Flexible Electrodes Deep Into Brain
In order to place electrodes deep into the brain without disrupting too much tissue, they must be stiff and as narrow as possible. There are a number of recently developed materials that are incredibly narrow and electrically conductive, such as carbon nanotubes and graphene, but they’re quite pliable when made at scales of a few […]
Sensor Pulls Sweat from Skin to Measure Multiple Biomarkers
Researchers from École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and a Swiss company called Xsensio have presented at last week’s International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) in San Francisco a new sweat sensor capable of detecting a number of useful chemical biomarkers, as well as the sweat’ pH level and temperature of the skin. The core of […]
Plasmonic Biosensor to Detect Exosomes with Naked Eye
Exosomes are vesicles that are released by the body’s cells that end up in our blood, urine, and other bodily fluids. The importance and roles they play within our bodies still has to be elucidated, but there’s already a lot of signs that exosomes are biomarkers of disease and indicators of various cellular processes. Studying […]
Antibacterial Nanoscale Etching of Stainless Steel Surfaces
At Georgia Tech, researchers have developed a way of etching stainless steel surfaces so finely that bacteria that come in contact with them end up being pierced and killed. Interestingly, because of the physiological differences between cell types, mammalian cells don’t seem to be significantly impacted by these surfaces. The electrochemical etching process creates a […]
Bespoke 3D-Printed Ear Prostheses Could Improve Hearing Loss Treatments
3D printing technology has changed the way many medical devices are designed and has huge potential to also disrupt healthcare by making devices more accessible, affordable, and personalized to the patient. While we’ve seen 3D-printed parts used in a variety of external limb prostheses and even for implants, researchers at the University of Maryland School of […]