Yale Startup 'Advances' Guidewire Placement

A device from Yale University researchers aims to simplify the process of placing a central venous catheter, or central line, in patients. The Ballistra Guidewire Advancer allows the physician to...

Clustering Analysis Improves Tracking of Physical Activity

Using motion capture technology and data from wearable devices, North Carolina State University researchers developed an energy-efficient way of tracking a user's physical activity.

Researchers Create Customized Proteins from 'Bacterial Builders'

Researchers from Wyss Institute have revealed a scalable method for building biomaterials from protein structures known as "amyloids." Ongoing work in the lab will focus on...

Acoustic Waves Move Fluids at the Nanoscale

A team of mechanical engineers at the University of California San Diego has successfully used acoustic waves to move fluids through small channels at the nanoscale. The devices employing the...

Colorful Imaging Will Help Distinguish Fine Details in Ultrasounds

A researcher has devised a way to incorporate new color identifications in ultrasound medical images, making it easier to differentiate fine details that currently appear as...

Biomedical Skin-Like Bandage Is Stretchy, Durable, and Long Lasting

A skin-like biomedical technology that uses a mesh of conducting nanowires and a thin layer of elastic polymer might bring new electronic bandages that monitor biosignals for...

Glass Fibers with Potential Far Beyond Transmitting Light

Glass fibers do everything from connecting us to the Internet to enabling keyhole surgery by delivering light through an endoscope. But as versatile as today’s fiber optics are,...

New ‘Bottlebrush’ Electroactive Polymers Make Dielectric Elastomers Increasingly Viable for Use in Devices

Material can change shape and size when exposed to a relatively small electric field. A multi-institutional research team has...

Fluorescent Sensor Provides Low-Cost Diagnosis of Cystic Fibrosis

New device provides a cheaper, easier way to detect levels of chloride in sweat. Scientists have developed a new diagnostic test for cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder currently...

Energy-Efficient Biomedical Sensor Hub for Wearable Health Applications

A new sensor hub integrated as a system-on-chip (SoC) has been designed for use in a broad range of wearable health devices and applications. The SoC was developed by imec,...

Creating a Slippery Slope on the Surface of Medical Implants

Implanted medical devices such as left ventricular-assist devices for patients with heart failure or other support systems for patients with respiratory, liver, or other end organ...

From the Editor — A Cure for the U.S. Medical Innovation Ecosystem

As 2016 came to a close, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the 21st Century Cures Act by a vote of 392–26, and the Senate passed it by a vote of...

Silicone Pump Segments for Medication and Feeding Pumps

They are vitally important, make therapy possible, and they have become an integral part in hospitals or home-care settings: medication and feeding pumps supply patients with essential...

Building an Integrated Home Health Monitoring System

Among the challenges faced by the healthcare sector is a population that is growing older. The elderly population is expected to grow significantly over the next 20 years. Having an...

Linear Actuators for High-Speed, Low-Load Applications

A number of medical applications need high-speed actuation in the lower load band. Many OEMs use pneumatic actuators or electric solenoids for this purpose; however, these options do not...

Enhancing Performance and Safety of Medical Implantable Devices with Multiphysics Simulation

At St. Jude Medical, ventricle assist devices are developed to improve the lives of patients with heart failure. Numerical simulation is used...

Design Validation and Regulatory Requirements

Design validation is one of the most important aspects of the design and development process for medical devices. It is at this stage that the medical device manufacturer confirms that the device...

Mari: Precision Technology for Successful Surgery

Besides radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the standard procedure for treating brain tumors includes the surgical removal of all or some of the growth. This surgery calls for precision and...

Rechargeable Hearing Aid Batteries Draw from NASA Research

NASA Technology We often imagine that inventions are born whole: Thomas Edison creates the incandescent light bulb and lights up Christie Street in Menlo Park on New Year’s Eve,...

New Products

PRODUCT OF THE MONTH — Magnetic Hyperthermia System MSI Automation, Wichita, KS, has introduced a magnetic hyperthermia system for the magnetic heating of nanoparticles. The system is designed for developing the proper thermal...

Bionic Wheelchair Climbs Stairs Without Tipping Over

People confined to a wheelchair are still confronted with insurmountable obstacles in everyday life – even in today’s more wheelchair-accessible society. While there are already...

Low-Frequency Ultrasound Heals Chronic Wounds

Chronic wounds affect up to 6 million patients per year in the United States. Because of their high prevalence, chronic wounds are a significant economic burden to the U.S. healthcare system....

Optical Waveguides Help Robotic Hand Feel

Most robots achieve grasping and tactile sensing through motorized means, which can be excessively bulky and rigid. A group of researchers has devised a way for a soft robot to feel its surroundings...

Probe Detects Difference between Cancer and Normal Tissue

Researchers have developed an optical fiber probe that distinguishes breast cancer tissue from normal tissue, potentially allowing surgeons to be much more precise when removing...

Virtual Reality for Diagnostics and Surgical Planning

Researchers have developed a technology that uses computed tomography (CT) data to generate in real time a 3D image of the anatomical structures of the part of the body undergoing...

Sensor System Predicts Heart Failure Events

A suite of sensors can predict heart failure events by detecting when a patient's condition is worsening. Researchers uploaded software to patients’ implanted defibrillators. The software...

Sensor Suit Makes Home Monitoring of Patients with Stroke Possible

A suit fitted with 41 sensors makes it possible to accurately image and analyze the movements of stroke patients. The suit contains the infrastructure necessary to store,...