When undergoing medical treatment, physicians frequently determine that a patient's vital signs — such as blood pressure and heart rate — need to be closely monitored. For most patients today, this means a variety of wires and sensors will be attached to their bodies. But thanks to technology developed at NASA,...

Each year, health care costs for managing chronically ill patients increase as the life expectancy of Americans continues to grow. To handle this situation, many hospitals, doctors’ practices, and home-care providers are turning to disease management, a system of coordinated health care interventions and communications,...

Generally, high-molecular-weight polyethylene oxide (PEO) can present processing challenges due to its high melt viscosity and poor melt drawability; it can be difficult to form into fine-gauge film or small-diameter fibers. There is the alternative technology of solution casting, which has...

Over the past several decades, there has been a proliferation of medical diagnostic and treatment devices that involve the use of X-rays, beta rays, gamma rays, and radioactive isotopes. In addition, there has been recent concern regarding possible radiation...

Three innovations address the needs of the medical world with regard to microfluidic manipulation and testing of physiological samples in ways that can benefit point-of-care needs for patients such as premature infants, for which drawing of blood for continuous tests can be life-threatening in their own right,...

The combination of ethidium monoazide (EMA) and post-fragmentation, randomly primed DNA amplification technologies will enhance the analytical capability to discern viable from non-viable bacterial cells in spacecraft-related samples. Intercalating agents have been widely...

BHA and BHT are well-known food preservatives that are excellent radical scavengers. These compounds, attached to single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), could serve as excellent radical traps. The amino-BHT groups can be associated with SWNTs that have carbolyxic acid groups via acid-base...

Engineers at UC Berkeley have developed a pressure-sensitive electronic material from semiconductor nanowires. The material functions like human skin, incorporating the ability to feel and touch objects, said Ali Javey, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences and head of the UC Berkeley...