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INSIDER: Software
Intricate tasks that require dexterous in-hand manipulation — rolling, pivoting, bending, and sensing friction — are a challenge for today's robots. A University of Washington team of computer scientists and...
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R&D: Medical
Dissolvable Electronics Hold Promise for Brain Monitoring
Dissolvable silicon electronics offer an unprecedented opportunity to implant advanced monitoring systems, according to researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Implantable brain devices that literally melt away at a pre-determined rate, for...
R&D: Medical
Researchers Blend Materials to 3D-Print Bone Replacements
By blending pulverized natural bone with man-made plastic, researchers at The Johns Hopkins University 3D-printed replacement skeletal structures of the head and face, including the lower jaw of a female patient. The team's composite material combines the strength and printability of plastic...
R&D: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Ingestible Origami Robot Unfolds from Capsule
Researchers at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Sheffield, and the Tokyo Institute of Technology have demonstrated a tiny origami robot that unfolds itself from a swallowed capsule. Steered by external magnetic fields, the bot can crawl across the stomach wall to remove...
R&D: Medical
New 'Box' Sterilizes Surgical Instruments
A mobile container from Rice University sterilizes surgical instruments in low-resource settings. The "Sterile Box," built into a standard 20-foot steel shipping container, houses a water system for decontamination and a solar-powered autoclave for steam sterilization.
R&D: Robotics, Automation & Control
Polymer Nanobrush Repels Dirt
Drexel University researchers have developed a new method for making polymer nanobrushes. The technology can be used in various medical applications, including coating, biomedical, sensing, and catalysis processes.
R&D: Medical
Implantable Device Targets Pancreatic Tumors
Researchers from MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital have developed a small, implantable device that delivers chemotherapy drugs directly to pancreatic tumors. Using mice, the team determined that the implant approach was up to 12 times more effective than the common method of delivering chemotherapy...
R&D: Electronics & Computers
Researchers at The Ohio State University have embroidered circuits into fabric with 0.1 mm precision -- an ideal size for integrating sensors and electronic components into clothing. The achievement...
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R&D: Photonics/Optics
Fish-Inspired Lens Sees in the Dark
Combining the best features of a lobster and an African fish, University of Wisconsin–Madison engineers have created an artificial eye that sees in the dark. The technology could help brighten the dim surroundings presented from surgical scopes.
R&D: Communications
Researchers Transmit Real-Time Video Through Animal Tissue
Using samples of store-bought meat, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated the possibility of real-time video-rate data transmission through tissue. The development supports in-body ultrasonic communications with implanted medical devices.
R&D: Medical
Researchers Build Implantable Artificial Kidney
Vanderbilt University researchers have created an implantable artificial kidney that is powered by a patient's own heart. The bio-hybrid device uses living kidney cells and microchip filters to keep a patient off dialysis and remove waste products, salt, and water.
R&D: Medical
New Imaging Technique Eliminates Radiation Exposure
A University of Missouri School of Medicine researcher has evaluated technology that may be used to replace fluoroscopy, eliminating the need for X-ray during cardiac ablation procedures.
R&D: Medical
Mind-Controlled Arm Moves Individual ‘Fingers’
A mind-controlled prosthetic arm developed by Johns Hopkins researchers allows wearers to move individual digits independently of each other. The proof-of-concept device represents an advance in technologies to restore refined hand function to those who have lost arms to injury or disease, say the...
R&D: Medical
Plasmonic Interferometers Support Advanced Biosensors
A plasmonic interferometry technique created by Brown University engineers has the potential to enable compact, ultra-sensitive biosensors. The method combines nanotechnology with plasmonics — the interaction between a metal's electrons and light.
R&D: Medical
Body Heat Triggers Shape-Changing Polymer
University of Rochester researchers created a material that undergoes a shape change when triggered by body heat alone. The shape-memory polymer can be programmed to retain a temporary form and then revert back to its original structure.
R&D: Robotics, Automation & Control
Imaging System Features 'Optical Brush'
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab have developed a new imaging device that consists of a loose bundle of optical fibers; no lenses or protective housing are needed. Tight bundles of the fibers could yield endoscopes with narrower diameters.
R&D: Medical
Wearable Sweat Sensor Tracks User's Health
A two-part system created by researchers at Stanford University and the University of California-Berkeley detects and analyzes a profile of chemicals in sweat. The flexible sensors and flexible circuit board stick to the skin and provide a health-monitoring device that continuously tracks a user's health...
R&D: Medical
Worm-Inspired Adhesive Performs in Wet Conditions
An interdisciplinary group of researchers at UC Santa Barbara has developed an underwater adhesive that can be used in tissue repair applications. The technology replicates the adhesion strategy of the Sandcastle worm (Phragmatopoma californica), a segmented marine invertebrate commonly found along...
R&D: Medical
Handheld Microscope Spots Cancerous Cells
Mechanical engineers from the University of Wisconsin are building a handheld microscope to help doctors and dentists distinguish between healthy and cancerous cells. The tool captures details up to a half millimeter beneath the tissue surface, where some types of cancerous cells originate.
R&D: Medical
​Simple Origami Fold Supports 'Pop-Up' Surgical Stents
A team at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) has characterized a fundamental origami fold, or tessellation, that could be used as a building block for medical devices. The folding pattern, known as the Miura-ori, can be packed into a flat, compact...
R&D: Medical
New Vitamin-A Material Reduces Scarring
To prevent scar formation within blood vessels, a team from Northwestern University has created a biodegradable material with built-in vitamin A. The soft elastic material can be used to treat injured vessels or make medical devices, such as stents and prosthetic vascular grafts.
R&D: Medical
Open-Source Laser Fabrication Supports Cancer Research
Rice University bioengineers have reprogrammed a laser cutter to etch 50,000 microwells per hour. The open-source, low-cost method for making microwells could reduce the cost of mass-producing metastatic microtumors and therapeutic microtissues for screening and research.
R&D: Robotics, Automation & Control
A University of Cincinnati team has acquired a better understanding of how brown tree snakes lodge themselves in place during climbing. The resulting knowledge could lead to new bio-inspired robotic...
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R&D: Manufacturing & Prototyping
A team of Northwestern researchers has created a new way to print three-dimensional metallic objects using rust and metal powders.
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R&D: Medical
Brain Imaging Sheds Light on Parkinsonian Symptoms
Using a portable device developed at Drexel University, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have identified differences in brain activation patterns associated with postural stability in people with Parkinsonian syndromes and healthy adults. The findings describe the critical role...
R&D: Robotics, Automation & Control
A gel created by Rice University researchers delivers time-released antibiotics to ward off infection while a patient heals from facial reconstruction procedures. Porous...
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R&D: Medical
Bioengineers and cognitive scientists at the University of California, San Diego, have built a portable, 64-channel wearable brain activity monitoring system. The technology features dry EEG sensors that...
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R&D: Medical
A two-stage power management and storage system from Georgia Institute of Technology improves the efficiency of triboelectric generators to harvest energy from irregular human motion,...
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R&D: Medical
An aqueous “Water-in-Salt” battery developed by researchers from the University of Maryland and the U.S. Army prevents risks related to fire, poisonous chemical exposure, and environmental...
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Ask the Expert

Ralph Bright on the Power of Power Cords
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Understanding power system components and how to connect them correctly is critical to meeting regulatory requirements and designing successful electrical products for worldwide markets. Interpower’s Ralph Bright defines these requirements and explains how to know which cord to select for your application.

Inside Story

Inside Story: Trends in Packaging and Sterilization
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Eurofins Medical Device Testing (MDT) provides a full scope of testing services. In this interview, Eurofins’ experts, Sunny Modi, PhD, Director of Package Testing; and Elizabeth Sydnor, Director of Microbiology; answer common questions on medical device packaging and sterilization.

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