R&D

Attacking Biofilm Formation

New research by mechanical engineers at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, aims at fighting bacterial biofilms that can foul implantable medical devices. Bacteria secrete a slimy substance that forms biofilms,...

Detecting Newborn Jaundice with a Smartphone

Newborn jaundice is a common condition in babies less than a week old. While yellowing of the skin is a primary indicator, that discoloration may be hard to see and, if left untreated, the condition...

Connecting the World with Tiny Radios

A Stanford University engineering team has built a radio the size of an ant that requires no batteries. The device gathers all the power it needs from the same electromagnetic waves that carry signals to...

Glucose Meter Changes Colors for Continuous Monitoring

A team of engineers at the University of Illinois, Champaign, have developed a new continuous glucose monitoring material that changes color as glucose levels fluctuate. They say that the...

Identifying Strains Before Injuries Occur

Engineers at Washington University, St. Louis, Mo, say that they have developed algorithms that can identify weak spots in tendons, muscles, and bones prone to them tearing or breaking. Their technology...

Germanium Nanowires Could Improve Batteries

A team of scientists at Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, developed a one-step approach to growing germanium nanowires from an aqueous solution. They say that their process may...

Measuring Blood Sugar with Laser Device Could End Finger Pricks

A team of scientists at Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, report that they have developed a way to measure people's blood glucose using a portable laser that could one day allow...

Battery-Free Connection for 'Internet of Things'

In the not too distant "Internet of Things" reality, sensors could be embedded in everyday objects to help monitor and track everything from the safety of bridges to the health of your heart....

Microchip Can Speedily Diagnose Type 1 Diabetes

Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, report that they have invented an inexpensive, portable, microchip-based test to diagnose type 1 diabetes that could speed up...

Preventing Fatal Blood Loss with Injectable Foam

In a combat situation, a wounded soldier can bleed to death quickly without prompt attention. But depending on where the injury is, like a deep wound at the neck, shoulder, or groin, traditional...

Shrinking the Gap in Nanowire Technology

A team of engineers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are using Shrinky Dinks material, a polystyrene that shrinks under high heat, to close the gap between nanowires in an array to make...

Developing World's First Memory Restoration Device

Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA, were awarded up to $2.5 million to develop an implantable neural device with the ability to record and stimulate...

Creating Soft Robotics with a Sewing Machine

New stretchable technologies and soft robotics being explored by engineers at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, could lead to innovations such as robots with human-like sensory skin and...

Lasers May Stabilize Future Electronics

Nearly all electronics require oscillators that create precise frequencies, which have, until now, relied upon quartz crystals to provide a frequency reference, like a tuning fork used to tune a piano....

Elastic Technology Creates ‘Soft’ Machines

A team of engineers at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, say they have developed a technique that could produce “soft machines” made of elastic materials and liquid metals for potential...

Blood Processor Device Could Treat Sepsis

A team of engineers at Oregon State University (OSU), Corvallis, say that they have developed a new technology that could revolutionize treatment and prevention of sepsis. Commonly called “blood...

Manufacturing 3D Metal Parts Efficiently

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA, say they have developed a more efficient approach to a challenging problem in additive manufacturing, using selective laser...

Hybrid Circuit Uses Nanotube Transistors

A group of engineers at the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering, Los Angeles, say that they are developing a flexible, energy-efficient hybrid circuit combining carbon...

Engineering Systems for Special Needs Children

A group of engineers and students at Kansas State University, Manhattan, is developing technology to improve the health and quality of life for children with severe developmental disabilities.

Permanent Eye Sensor Could Track and Monitor Glaucoma

A team of engineers at the University of Washington, Seattle, have designed a low-power sensor that could be placed permanently in a person’s eye to track changes in eye pressure. The...

New MRI Sensor Could Track Oxygen Uptake

A team of scientists at MIT has developed a new sensor that, they say, can enable long-term monitoring of oxygen levels in cancerous tumors, which may advance diagnosis and treatment.

New Technique Detects Early Warning of Diabetes-Related Eye Damage

Researchers at Indiana University, Bloomington, have discovered new early warning signs of the potential sight loss associated with diabetes. This could have a big impact on the...

Implantable Electronic Gripping Devices

A team of scientists from the University of Texas, Dallas, along with colleagues at the University of Tokyo, Japan, have created biologically adaptive transistor devices that have the ability to become...

Advanced Electromechanical Arm Earns FDA Approval

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) launched its Revolutionizing Prosthetics program to advance the field of modular upper-limb prosthetics and committed to making the...

‘Smart’ Peg Tests Palsy Patients’ Dexterity

While it may look like a game board and users may find it fun to use, there is a serious intent behind a device created by engineering students at Rice University, Houston, TX, to test the...

LED-Based Neuroimaging Improves Active Brain Scanning

A team of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, have developed a brain-scanning technology that tracks what the brain is actively doing by shining dozens of...

Elastic Patches for Wireless Health Monitoring

A team of engineers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, have demonstrated thin, soft stick-on patches that stretch and move with the skin...

Pacemaker Powered by Beating Heart

An interdisciplinary research team from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Arizona, Tucson, has developed a flexible medical implant that...

New Lens Design Dramatically Improves Lithotripsy

A team of mechanical and materials engineers at Duke University, Durham, NC, have devised a way to improve the efficiency of lithotripsy—the crushing of kidney stones using focused shock...