Microfluidic-Based Soft Robotic Prosthetics

Scientists have developed a new type of prosthetic using microfluidics-enabled soft robotics that promises to greatly reduce skin ulcerations and pain in patients who have had an amputation...

3D Printed Lightweight Knee Brace

Researchers have developed a lighter, yet more robust knee brace for the elderly who suffer from knee problems.

Automating Orthopedic Revision Planning

See how A.I.-based machine learning supports orthopedic revision surgeries.

Reimagining Knee Replacements with Additive Technology and Artificial Intelligence

To produce an additively manufactured prosthesis, REJOINT starts by 3D modelling the patient’s CT scan.

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...

Engineers 3D Print Flexible Mesh for Ankle and Knee Braces

Hearing aids, dental crowns, and limb prosthetics are some of the medical devices that can now be digitally designed and customized for individual patients, thanks to 3D printing....

Smart Knee Implants Could Reduce Number of Knee Replacement Surgeries

Smart knee implants may soon be a reality thanks to research done by Binghamton University, Stony Brook University, and the University of Western Ontario.

Rehab Device Works with All Joints of Lower Limbs

South Ural State University
Chelyabinsk, Russia
www.susu.ru/en

Anew device developed at South Ural State University is unlike analogous devices in that it involves all joints of a...

Exoskeletons, Surgical Robotics Drive Advances in Motion System Technologies

New technologies are coming along every day that are designed to make an engineer's life easier when attempting to fulfill his or her motion control system needs....

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...

8 Key Decisions to Make When Designing Motor Drives

Engineers designing their own motor drives must accomplish many different tasks, from selecting a microcontroller to choosing the right connectors and power supply for mechanical...

3D Printable Implants May Ease Damaged Knees

A cartilage-mimicking material created by researchers at Duke University may one day allow surgeons to 3D print replacement knee parts that are custom-shaped to each patient's anatomy.

Exoskeleton Device Helps People with Arthritic Knees

A University of North Texas (Denton, TX) graduate student is taking a step toward making exoskeletons available to help more people. Typically, exoskeletons, which are wearable mobile...

Grinding Machines Offer Unique Capabilities for the Medical Industry

The recent emergence of specially designed five-axis grinding machines can now meet the highest expectations of accuracy and machine dynamics within the special demands of...

Thin Film Force Sensors: Changing the Medical Device Design Game

Data drives results. Today, medical devices give feedback and insight like never before. Advances in engineering medical devices has led to smarter devices, improved...

Keeping Prosthetic Legs from Tripping

While trips and stumbles leading to falls can be common for amputees using leg prosthetics, a new robotic leg prosthesis being developed at Carnegie Mellon University promises to help users recover their...

Microprocessor-Controlled Prostheses Are a Step in the Right Direction

It’s not always easy to walk in someone else’s shoes. It’s even more difficult if those shoes belong to a person with an artificial leg. However, that’s exactly...

A Multidisciplinary Approach to Prosthetic Socket Manufacturing

An orthopaedic surgeon resident Andrew Pedtke, MD, and a prosthetist, Garrett Hurley, CPO (Certified Prosthetist and Orthotist), both working at the University of California San...

Hydraulic Prosthetic Knee Joints Provide More Natural Mobility for Patients

For patients who have lost a leg, regaining mobility is a top priority. However, development of more true-to-nature prosthetic limbs and joints has come an amazingly...

Inking Orthopaedic Implants During Surgery

University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia
www.uow.edu.au

A hand-held device they call a “BioPen” has been developed by researchers at the University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia,...

Anklebot: A Robotic Walking Coach

The ankle is a complex joint, supported by muscle, tendon, and bones, and maintaining stability and locomotion. Characterizing how it works, however, is not so straightforward says a group of researchers...

Implantable Spring for Knee Osteoarthritis

Healthy joints and cartilage are exposed to mechanical loads during everyday motion and activity. While normal joint loading can help maintain joint tissues, high loading due to obesity, or abnormal...

Creating a Healthier Future: 2013 Create the Future Design Contest Winners

Grand Prize Winner ChemoPatch Alydaar Rangwala, Nikhil Mehandru,
Aaron Perez, and Brandon Sim
Theratech, Loudonville, NY

Existing methods for...

R&D Roundup: November 2013

First Thought-Controlled Bionic Leg Revealed

A team of researchers at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago has revealed clinical applications for the world’s first thought-controlled bionic vleg—a...

Replacement Ear with Right Look and Feel

The shape of a human ear is very individual, usually symmetrical, and, like a fingerprint, so characteristic that one can identify us by them. The outer portion of our ears has a complex structure...

Improved MRI to Image Joints Being Created

Imperial College London, London, UK
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk

A new system to allow specialists to image difficult areas of the body, which could potentially improve the way procedures such...