Osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, affects millions of Americans. Implantable sensor technology and custom-designed cartilage scaffolding systems could greatly improve quality of life for these patients. Researchers at the University of Arizona and three other universities around the world are...

The Leveraged Freedom Chair (LFC) was developed through the MIT Mobility Lab, which Amos Winter created as a graduate student in 2007. The LFC is a mobility aid specifically designed for developing countries. It has a variable mechanical advantage lever drive train that enables its user to travel ten to 20 percent faster on...

Epilepsy affects 50 million people worldwide, but in a third of these cases, medication cannot keep seizures from occurring. One solution is to shoot a short pulse of electricity to the brain to stamp out the seizure just as it begins to erupt. But brain implants designed to do this have run into...

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) research engineer Javier Atencia has a reputation for creating novel microfluidic devices out of ordinary, inexpensive components. This time, he has combined a glass slide, plastic sheets, and double-sided tape into a “diffusion-based gradient generator” - a tool...

MIT researchers have engineered a device that delivers a tiny, high-pressure jet of medicine through the skin without the use of a hypodermic needle. The device can be programmed to deliver a range of doses to various depths — an improvement over similar jet-injection systems that are now...

Mammograms involve placing one breast at a time between two plates that compress and spread breast tissue, causing discomfort for many women. A newly developed robotic device has been designed to mimic manual breast palpations, enabling doctors to record accurate data about the underlying tissue....

By incorporating the right sensors and software, robots can be given the ability to identify different materials by touch. A specially designed robot even outperformed humans in identifying a wide range of natural materials according to their textures, in a recent study by research from the USC...

A team of Rice University students has designed a mousetrap-inspired device that could make IV-fluid delivery a "snap" in developing areas of the world. Treating dehydration among children is currently a challenge in these regions — children may be connected to adult-IV bags, and a tool like this device...

A powerful color-based imaging technique is making the jump from remote sensing to the operating room, with the efforts of scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). A technique called hyperspectral imaging (HSI) has frequently been used in satellites...

Ear infections are the most common conditions that pediatricians treat. Studies have found that patients who suffer from chronic ear infections may have a film of bacteria or other microorganisms that builds up behind the eardrum; finding and monitoring these so-called biofilms are...

The development of body-powered prosthetic hands has stagnated over the past 20 years, concludes a recent study from the Netherlands. Researchers at TU Delft and the University of Groningen conducted a test comparing the results of contemporary body-powered prosthetic hands to earlier measurements...