Geometric Twist Boosts Power of Robotic Textiles

By rethinking how thin metal threads are woven into a flexible textile, researchers have created a lightweight fabric capable of lifting over 400 times its own weight. The work advances the...

Bodycote to Open New Heat Treatment Facility in Mexico

Bodycote, a provider of heat treatment and specialist thermal processing services, plans to open a new facility in Apodaca, Mexico, at a date yet to be announced in 2026. Located in the...

Component Manufacturer PrecisionX Acquired by Windjammer Capital

PrecisionX Group, Waterbury, CT, has been acquired by private equity firm Windjammer Capital. PrecisionX manufactures high-precision metal components for regulated industries....

Product of the Month

See the product of the month: Zeus' expanded PTFE tubing platform engineered to increase flexibility while maintaining structural integrity in demanding catheter applications.

Sweat-Powered Sticker Turns Drinking Cup Into a Health Sensor

A team of engineers at the University of California San Diego has developed an electronic sticker that can monitor a person’s vitamin C levels using the sweat from their fingertips — no blood draws, lab visits, or batteries required. Read on to learn more about it.

Inside the OEM: Intuitive’s Next Chapter — Scaling Robotics, Data, and Global Reach

For more than 30 years, Intuitive has helped define robotic-assisted surgery. Go inside the OEM to learn more about Intuitive and its next chapter.

AI-Generated Sensors Open New Paths for Early Cancer Detection

Detecting cancer in the earliest stages could dramatically reduce cancer deaths because cancers are usually easier to treat when caught early. To help achieve that goal, MIT and Microsoft researchers are using artificial intelligence to design molecular sensors for early detection. Read on to learn more.

Soft Robotics: AI Powered Muscles Paired with Intelligent Control Systems

Pop culture has often depicted robots as cold, metallic, and menacing, built for domination, not compassion. But at Georgia Tech, the future of robotics is softer, smarter, and designed to help. Read on to learn more.

Dissolvable Battery Uses Probiotics

Inspired by the self-destructing devices depicted in the Mission: Impossible films, researchers are advancing transient electronics designed to safely dissolve after use. Read on to learn more.

The Strategic Advantage of Automation in Medical Device Manufacturing

Medical device manufacturers face increasing pressure to deliver higher volumes, greater consistency, and stronger compliance in a challenging labor environment. Strategic automation provides a path forward by embedding repeatability, traceability, and verification directly into manufacturing processes. Read on to learn more.

From the Editor: Industrial Mastery Comes to Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing is entering what the Wohlers Report 2026 calls “The Era of Industrial Mastery.” For the medical device industry, that phrase should resonate. Read on to learn more about what Sherrie Trigg, Editor and Director of Content, thinks about the matter.

Medical Podcasts

Listen to the medical podcasts, including one examining personalized medicine and drug delivery — and how cutting-edge tools like AI, automation, and robotics are transforming cancer care; one on the growing emphasis on sustainability in drug-delivery devices; one on how targeted intra-arterial delivery platforms are redefining the treatment of solid tumors; and more.

Soft Bioelectronic Tracks Hundreds of Biological Events

Roughly a quarter of a millimeter in diameter, the NeuroString fiber can incorporate hundreds to thousands of independent electronic channels capable of detecting neurochemicals, monitoring muscle contractions, recording single-neuron activity, or delivering targeted stimulation. Read on to learn more.

Novel Sensor Offers Continuous Blood Leakage Monitoring

In a recent breakthrough, a team of researchers led by Dr. Yei Hwan Jung at Hanyang University, South Korea, has proposed a novel ultrathin flexible sensor inserted endovascularly with a stent to detect Type-I endoleaks with the maximum rupture risk. Read on to learn more.

Designing Continuous Glucose Monitors for Safety, Reliability, and Patient Comfort

Continuous glucose monitors have reshaped diabetes management by delivering real-time glucose readings, freeing patients from frequent finger-stick testing. This article examines how properly selected sensing, protection, and activation components — including miniature magnetic switches and thermistors — help engineers design CGMs that meet demanding performance, safety, and regulatory requirements.

New Products and Services

See the new products and services, including Boker’s new 2026 resource tools to support specification and sourcing of precision metal stampings and non-standard washers; Advanced Thermal Solutions' expanded thermal measurement and analysis tools for quantifying airflow and heat dissipation in compact medical electronics; integrated magnetic field sensor modules for current, angle, and position measurement from Magnetic Sensor Systems; and more.

Engineers Create Hydrogels to Monitor Activity in the Body

Wearable or implantable devices to monitor biological activities, such as heart rate, are useful, but they are typically made of metals, silicon, plastic, and glass and must be surgically implanted. A research team in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis is developing bioelectronic hydrogels that could one day replace existing devices and have much more flexibility. Read on to learn more.

New Method Uses Carbon Nanotubes for Health Sensors

Researchers have produced purified single-wall carbon nanotubes that could enable the development of significantly more accurate healthcare sensors. Read on to learn more.

Wireless Contact Lens for Retinal Diagnostics

A team of researchers has developed a next-generation wireless ophthalmic diagnostic technology that replaces the existing stationary, darkroom-based retinal testing method by incorporating an ultrathin OLED into a contact lens. This breakthrough is expected to have applications in diverse fields such as myopia treatment, ocular biosignal analysis, augmented-reality (AR) visual information delivery, and lightbased neurostimulation. Read on to learn more.

Sensor Technology Detects Life-Threatening Complications After Intestinal Surgery

An interdisciplinary research team has developed a bioresorbable sensor film that is inserted directly into the intestinal suture during surgery. It continuously measures parameters such as tissue impedance and temperature, providing real-time information on the condition of the healing region for the first time. Read on to learn more.

Choosing the Right Materials for Micro-Molded Optics and Photonics Components

This article presents a practical way to think about materials for molded optics and photonics parts, and what an OEM should expect from a micro molding partner, not only in terms of material range, but in terms of the process command required to turn a material choice into dependable end-use performance. Read on to learn more.

A Material Difference: Engineering Smaller Medical Devices at the Molecular Edge

There’s a quiet revolution happening deep in the anatomy that doesn’t start with robotics or AI-assisted navigation, but with something far more fundamental: materials. The push toward miniaturized medical devices, especially in vascular intervention, isn’t just about making things smaller but also making devices that can be efficacious in the small anatomy. This is the frontier: the convergence of polymer innovation, extrusion engineering and micron-level quality assurance. Read on to learn more.

Noninvasive Imaging Could Replace Finger Pricks

A noninvasive method for measuring blood glucose uses Raman spectroscopy — a light-based technique that identifies molecular composition by analyzing how near-infrared light scatters within tissue. The shoebox-sized prototype eliminates the need for finger sticks or implanted sensors, offering a potential alternative for people with diabetes who require frequent glucose monitoring. Read on to learn more.

Product Focus: Test and Quality Control

See where the product focus is this month: On test and quality control, including LK Metrology's production-ready computed tomography inspection system optimized for shop-floor deployment; a high-precision interferometric measurement system from Micro-Epsilon; Kistler's expanded in-line process monitoring capabilities for regulated manufacturing environments; and more.

Vaccines Via Dental Floss

Researchers have developed a novel vaccine delivery approach that uses dental floss to administer vaccines through the junctional epithelium, the thin, permeable tissue located between the teeth and gums. Read on to learn more about it.