Is it possible that in vitro models will someday become so sophisticated and thorough that they are able to predict biocompatibility as well as an in vivo model — saving time and money (not to mention providing some relief to our furry friends)? Dr. Joel Gorski, Director of Research and Development for North...

Lasers are already very important tools in patient diagnostics, and it's highly likely that their usefulness in medical applications will only continue to grow over time. Recent findings suggest that they also hold the potential to advance neuron regeneration for the treatment of diseases such as...

It's often said that truth can be stranger than fiction, but it may also be said that truth imitates fiction. Technological advances seem to be sweeping us closer and closer to a reality that toes the line between fiction and fact. For example, the ability to reconstruct a movie based on brain scans sounds like...

According to an interview published in MIT Sloan Management Review, innovation expert Eric von Hippel argues that product innovation comes, fundamentally, from users who improvise and improve upon existing products — not companies that manufacture those technologies. It may be the case...

Universities are a breeding ground for innovation, but in order for those innovations to benefit the public, they must progress beyond the theoretical or prototype level — which requires adequate funding. A promising development was recently announced in California: Five teams of scientists from the...

One of the nation's largest health insurers, WellPoint, announced today that it would develop and launch IBM Watson-based solutions to improve patient care. Ever since Watson's noteworthy performance on Jeopardy!, talk has circulated about the supercomputer's potential usefulness as a tool that physicians could use to...

As telemedicine gains prominence, the potential for misdiagnosis remains a viable concern. Whether in regard to ultrasound or ECG technology, the focus is shifting toward finding ways to make remote diagnosis as foolproof as possible even among individuals with limited expertise. It is estimated that 4 percent...

Tufts University chemists have announced the development of the world's first single-molecule electric motor — a mind-boggling concept in and of itself, but even more so when you take a look at the hard numbers. The new motor measures a mere 1 nanometer across — 200X smaller than the current world record...

Thermal management of medical electronic devices and systems is now more challenging. Power densities continue to increase while product form factors continue to shrink. Simple thermal management solutions, such as passive cooling (adding a fan and heat sink), are no longer typically viable to...

Improved devices have been proposed for collecting sweat for biochemical analysis — especially for determination of the concentration of Ca2+ ions in sweat as a measure of loss of Ca from bones. Unlike commercially available sweat-collection patches used previously in monitoring...