According to a new study conducted in controlled laboratory conditions, sensors that pick up the rhythm of a beating heart in implanted cardiac defibrillators and pacemakers are vulnerable to hacking. In experiments using simulated human models, an international team of researchers demonstrated that...

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), also known as DuPont’s Teflon®, is renowned for keeping things from sticking, and is used as a dry lubricating polymer on machine components, from kitchen tools to space and biomedical applications. Recently, research engineers at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville,...

Here is the latest batch of news from the medical products community. Please click the link for more.

Artificial skins and new sensor technologies being developed by European scientists could help make robots more sensitive to tactile stimuli and improve their ability to communicate and cooperate with each other and with humans. The EU-funded project, “Skin-based technologies and capabilities for safe, autonomous...

By modifying the underlying network of cellulose fibers, etching off surface “fluff” and applying a thin chemical coating, researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, have created a new type of paper that repels a wide variety of liquids, including water and oil.

Ever since he was six weeks old, an Ohio infant with a condition called tracheobronchomalacia would stop breathing because part of his windpipe carrying air to his left lung would collapse, requiring emergency assistance. But, thanks to a team of doctors and engineers at the University of Michigan,...

According to a report by AlixPartners, a business advisory firm, America is becoming more competitive in terms of manufacturing and will match China on the cost of manufacturing within two years. Their research reveals that, according to current trends such as wage inflation in China and exchange...

When it comes to outsourcing many complex professional services, this type of work should not be viewed as a mere commodity, say researchers at Harvard Business School, reporting in the journal , Organization Science. Instead, they say, cultivating important person-to-person relationships with the vendor of outsourced...

Scientists at the University of Washington, Seattle, have created a synthetic substance that can fully resist the body’s natural attack response to foreign objects. They say that devices such as artificial heart valves, prostheses and breast implants could be coated with this polymer to prevent the body...

Creating alloys at the nanometer scale is producing materials with properties unlike anything produced before says scientists at the University of Pittsburgh, who have demonstrated that these alloys possess the ability to emit such bright light they could have potential uses in medicine.

It could happen someday, say a group of mechanical engineering students at Rice University, Houston, TX. As a project required for graduation, four seniors created PediPower shoes that extract and store energy with every step to power portable electronics and, maybe even medical devices.

Lauded for safety, ease, and patient convenience, peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC) lines have become clinicians’ go-to for intravenous (IV) delivery of antibiotics, nutrition, chemotherapy, and other medications. But, compared to other central venous catheters (CVCs), PICCs more than double the...

Does glass move over time? That’s the question tackled by a team of researchers at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, who say that glass remains in solid form, unless shattered, of course. The idea for this research came from a doctoral student's qualifying exam, said Gregory McKenna, a professor of chemical...

Scientists at the University of Delaware, Newark, say that they have confirmed the presence of a magnetic field generated by electrons, which scientists had theorized existed, but had never been proven until now. This finding, they say, could help to lay the groundwork for electronics of the future....

A handheld diagnostic device that researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, first developed to diagnose cancer has been adapted to rapidly diagnose tuberculosis (TB) and other important infectious bacteria. The portable device combines microfluidic technology with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)...

The Moffitt Cancer Center and the University of South Florida, both in Tampa, have collaborated with researchers in China, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany to develop a new computational method to assess lung cancer tumors using CT, PET, or MRI diagnostic technologies. The method, called...

Here is the latest batch of news from the medical products community. Please click the link for more.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has introduced a long-awaited measurement tool to help device designers, manufacturers, and customers to see eye to eye on eight dimensional and material property measurements that are key to device performance. MEMS, once considered a stepchild of the...

Scientists at Princeton University in New Jersey used silk strands and tiny gold wires bundled with graphene to create a removable tattoo that adheres to dental enamel and could eventually be used to monitor a patient’s health with unprecedented sensitivity.

April’s Question of the Month focused on regulation of healthcare/lifestyle smartphone apps. Since regulation of some medical apps may be covered by the FDA, we asked if you thought lifestyle apps, such as pedometers and personal health records, should be regulated, and if so, by which agency. Answers were mixed,...

According to a recent report from ABI Research, a market intelligence company specializing in global technology markets, while the market for disposable wireless Medical Body Area Network (MBAN) sensors within professional healthcare is in its earliest stages, the foundations to support adoption are...

There are two parts to a blast created by an improvised explosive device: a shock wave traveling at supersonic speed, and compressed air, which travels in front of the shock wave. Both can cause considerable damage to the human body, but the exact effects are unclear. To prevent injuries to...

Once implanted, coronary artery stents to prop open blood vessels usually remain in place for the rest of the patient’s life. The longer a stent is in place, the greater the risk of late-stage side effects. That's why researchers are trying to develop a bioabsorbable stent, one that will gradually and...

Polymer scientists at Rice University, Houston, TX, discovered that the liquid crystal phase of silicone, which is partway between a solid and a liquid, becomes up to 90 percent stiffer when repeatedly compressed. Their research could lead to new strategies for self-healing materials or...

The American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association (AOPA) launched its "Coalition to Walk and Run Again," an effort to aid uninsured and under-insured victims of the April 15th Boston Marathon terror attack. The bombing killed 3 people and left more than 200 injured, several of...