Increase Dental Implant Longevity with Bio-functional TiN and DLC Coatings

Artificial dental implants are the most reliable restoration option available for mature tooth loss. Despite their long potential lifespan, poor integration into the jaw...

Flexible Microrobots for Medical Tasks

A team of researchers has developed an integrated fabrication process that enables the design of soft robots on the millimeter scale with micrometer-scale features. To demonstrate the capabilities of their...

Scientists Create Continuously Emitting Microlasers With Nanoparticle-Coated Beads

Researchers have found a way to convert nanoparticle-coated microscopic beads into lasers smaller than red blood cells. These microlasers, which convert...

Engineers Design Color-Changing Compression Bandage

Compression therapy is a standard form of treatment for patients who suffer from venous ulcers and other conditions in which veins struggle to return blood from the lower extremities....

Digital Manufacturing Helps Revolutionize Surgical Stapler

Modern science has allowed surgeons to fix the human body amazingly fast yet leave behind only small traces where repairs were performed. One of the more commonly used methods to...

Spikes of Graphene Kill Bacteria on Medical Implants

Chalmers University of TechnologyGothenberg, Swedenwww.chalmers.se Operations for surgical implants, such as hip and knee replacements or dental implants, have increased in recent years....

E-beam Sterilization: The Impact on Skin-Contact Adhesives for Medical Applications

The performance of adhesives used for wearable medical device applications is critical to the efficacy of the final product, as an improperly affixed device is...

Paper-Folding Art Inspires Better Bandages

Engineers have developed a thin, lightweight, rubber-like adhesive film that can stick to highly deformable regions of the body, such as the knee and elbow, and maintain its hold even after 100...

Running Titanium and Other Exotic Metals at Faster Speeds

High-speed machining is typically used in medical equipment manufacturing where machinists often work with exotic alloys and harder metals like titanium.

Using Air Gaging for Measurement of Orthopedic Devices

For patients, high-quality orthopedic components mean that implants can be kept for as long as possible, reducing or even eliminating the need for further procedures down the road. In order...

Key Factors for Choosing Silicone Solutions in Medical Device Lubrication

In working with various medical equipment such as needles, syringes, trocars, cannulas, guide-wires, catheters, and valves, medical device designers must account for...

Skin-Inspired Coating Can Heal Itself

Researchers often have to compromise between strength and the ability to self-repair when developing coating materials. Now one team has developed a smart coating that is as hard as tooth enamel on the...

Considerations for Specifying Ultra-Engineering Polymers for Extruded Medical Applications – Part 2

With the shift in the medical industry to more minimally invasive, quicker, and more effective procedures, the goal is to minimize patient...

Making the Gas Assist Plastic Molding Process Work for Medical Applications

Gas assist molding offers a variety of process and design advantages for medical equipment applications. It produces parts that are smooth and extremely cleanable,...

Orthopedics: Springs Provide Precision, Cleanability

When engineers develop orthopedic surgical devices, they must often think beyond the design of the device, and find a way to make its installation easier, safer, and more accurate. Sometimes...

Illuminated Pajamas Treat Newborns

To treat newborns for treat, the babies lie in incubators. Irradiation with blue light in an incubator is necessary because toxic decomposition products of the blood pigment hemoglobin are deposited in the...

Piezoelectrics Stretch Potential with Flexible Sticking

Researchers have demonstrated a new technique for making piezoelectric microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) by connecting a sample of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) piezoelectric thin...

More than Just Measurement: Dimensional Inspection FAQs

With the ever-increasing influx of automation in the manufacturing industry, the process of prioritizing accurate measurements is needed now more than ever to ensure that products are not...

From Research to Diagnostics: Plasma Treatments Improve Quality, Function

Each year, billions of multi-well plates, pipettes, bottles, flasks, vials, Eppendorf tubes, culture plates, and other polymer items are manufactured for use in research,...

Optimizing Performance and Value of Medical Devices with the Right Plastic Processing Technology

Engineering thermoplastics are widely used to manufacture a broad range of medical devices, from single-use syringes and applicators to diagnostic...

Smartphone Device Performs Optical Spectroscopy

Researchers have demonstrated that mobile devices incorporating their sensor can provide accurate measurements of optical absorption spectra of colored liquids or the optically scattered spectra...

Advances in Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Coatings for Medical Devices

The medical device industry, driven by innovation and new technologies, has become one of the biggest markets in healthcare. The explosion in sophistication and application of...

Polymeric System Uses Glucose to Deliver Drugs to the Brain

University College LondonLondon, UKwww.ucl.ac.uk A new drug-delivery system that autonomously navigates the body using its own glucose molecules has been developed and tested by a...

Sensors Detect Disease Markers in Breath

A small, thin square of an organic plastic that can detect disease markers in breath could soon be the basis of portable, disposable sensor devices. By riddling the thin plastic films with pores,...

Reinforced Silicone Tube Options for Kink, Wear, or Burst Resistance

Its biocompatibility, flexibility, and durability have made extruded silicone the top choice for tubing in many medical devices. Of course, designing devices that will be...

Reliable Protection for the Latest Advances in Diabetes Management Technologies

According to the American Diabetes Association, more than 29 million people have been diagnosed with diabetes in the United States alone, and an additional person...

Plasma-Applied Silicone Coatings for the Next Generation of Medical Devices

For many medical device manufacturers, the application of proprietary coatings and surface treatments can play a critical role in differentiating their products as they...

Computational Fluid Dynamics in Extrusion Tooling

Applying fluid dynamic principles to extrusion tooling design benefits any medical device company involved with continuous extrusion. Benefits include improved product tolerances, reduced waste,...

Extracellular Matrix (ECM) Offers Stable Coating for Implants

Each cell produces a tissue-specific extracellular matrix (ECM), depending on the environment needed. A bone matrix, for example, contains minerals to provide firmness; a skin...