High-Efficiency Power Converter

A new electrical power converter design achieves a much higher efficiency at lower cost and maintenance than before. The direct current voltage boost converter is poised to be a significant contribution to the further development of improved electric and electronic components for healthcare devices.

Using Static Electricity to Enhance Biomedical Implants

Researchers have created electrostatic materials that function even with extremely weak ultrasound, heralding the era of permanent implantable electronic devices in biomedicine.

Ultra-Thin Battery Powered by Saline for Smart Contact Lenses

Scientists have developed a flexible battery as thin as a human cornea, which stores electricity when it is immersed in saline solution, and which could one day power smart...

Thermoelectric Generator: Reliable Power for Wearable Electronics

Researchers have developed a thermoelectric generator (TEG) that can continuously generate electricity using heat from the sun and a radiative element that releases heat into the air.

Programmable Smart Fabric Responds to Temperature and Electricity

A new smart material developed by researchers at the University of Waterloo is activated by both heat and electricity, making it the first ever to respond to two different stimuli.

Printable, Transparent Plastic Is Highly Conductive

Researchers have designed a transparent polymer film that conducts electricity as effectively as other commonly used materials, while also being flexible and easy to use at an industrial scale.

Generating Electricity from the Blink of an Eye

A research team has obtained electrical energy from small movements of the human body, such as the blink of an eye, by using biocompatible materials to minimize the device’s thickness. The...

‘Healthy’ Electric Current Produced Inside Human Body

New nanotechnology has many potential applications, including harvesting clean energy to operate devices implanted in the body through the body’s natural movements.

Nontoxic, Flexible Energy Converters Could Power Wearable Devices

Researchers report the design and fabrication of single-wall carbon nanotube thermoelectric devices on flexible polyimide substrates as a basis for wearable energy converters.

All-in-One Device Uses Microwave Power

An innovative system may provide a new option to use directed energy for biomedical applications.

3D Printed Plastics with High-Performance Electrical Circuits

Engineers have embedded high-performance electrical circuits inside 3D printed plastics, which could lead to better-performing biomedical implants. They used pulses of high-energy...

Harvesting Energy from the Human Knee

An energy harvester attached to the wearer’s knee can generate 1.6 μW of power while the wearer walks without any increase in effort. The energy is enough to power small electronics like health...

E-bandage Generates Electricity, Speeds Wound Healing

Researchers have developed a self-powered bandage that generates an electric field over an injury, dramatically reducing the healing time for skin wounds in rats. They wanted to develop a...

Quantum Dots Monitor Brain Activity

Luminescent quantum dots are finding new and exciting applications in current nano-science research, including improved solar energy collectors, LEDs, and quantum computers. A recent thrust from the U.S....

World's Smallest Optical Implantable Biodevice Controls Brain Patterns

Japanese researchers describe a new implantable device no bigger than the width of a coin that can be used to control brain patterns. The device, which can be read about in...

Custom Engineered HV Power Supplies for High- Performance Applications

High-voltage power supplies (HVPSs) are required in multiple configurations and capabilities. The dimensions, type of enclosure, weight, input and outputs, thermal and...

Low-Density Polymer Lightens the Load of Prosthetic Hand

Researchers at the University of Southampton, UK, have chosen low-density thermopolymer to create various parts of the next generation of its innovative Southampton-Remedi prosthetic...

The Power of Ultrasonic Piezo Transducers for Medical Applications

Ultrasonic piezo transducers can be used in a wide variety of applications, including medical devices. Because there is no one-size-fits-all solution, transducer manufacturers...

Ultrathin Device Harvests Electricity from Human Motion

A new, ultrathin energy harvesting system has the potential to harvest electricity from human motion. Based on battery technology and made from layers of black phosphorus that are only a...

New System Eliminates Need for Pacemaker Batteries

Researchers have developed a piezoelectric system that converts the heart’s vibrational energy into electricity to power pacemakers, eliminating the need for batteries. Unlike conventional...

Solar-Powered Skin Offers New Possibilities for Prosthetics

University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland www.gla.ac.uk/news A new way of harnessing the sun's rays to power ‘synthetic skin’ could help to create advanced prosthetic limbs capable...

Tiny Solar Cells Deliver Big Power

Engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have created microscale solar cells that could power a multitude of personal devices, including wearable medical sensors, smartwatches, and autofocusing contact...

New Tube-Cutting Technology Meets Next-Generation Production Needs

Stents and hypodermic tubes (hypotubes) are used in countless applications, and the demand is growing rapidly in response to the continued demand for stent applications and...

Advancing Optoelectronics with Monolayer Semiconductors

In a study led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), epitaxy, or growing crystalline film layers that are templated by a crystalline substrate, is a...

Controlling Backlash in Mammography Systems

Medical imaging equipment, water handling systems, conveyors, robotic systems, and rotary and linear actuators are among the many devices that may be fitted with electric friction brakes to hold their...

Robotic Finger Moves Like Natural One

While most robotic parts in current use are rigid, have a limited range of motion, and don’t really look lifelike, a scientist from Florida Atlantic University has designed a novel robotic finger that, he...

2015 Create the Future Design Contest: Honorable Mentions

Method for Treating Cartilage Defects Michael Lytinas Ideas Foundation, Boston, MA This invention is a method to treat cartilage defects in osteoarthritis and cartilage injuries by...