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The Tacit, a haptic sonar glove that helps a visually impaired person navigate complex environments, has been released as a public prototype. The invention uses ultrasonic sensors to sense objects from about 1 inch to 10 feet away, and translates that information into pressure on the user's wrist.

Last June, Analog Devices wrote an article in Medical Design Briefs about the increasing need to engineer devices that provide healthcare in the home. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal highlights one technology that fits into this trend: a small purse-sized device, developed by Awak Technologies of Singapore, that would...

Engineers are taking important steps toward a future in which skin-mounted electronics could monitor individuals in a natural environment and even offer the potential for human-computer interfacing — all with the flexibility and comfort of a temporary tattoo.

Just like any other device that relies on a wireless connection, medical devices like insulin pumps and implants may be vulnerable to attack. In cases like these, a breach in security is not just an annoyance or financial liability — it may be a matter of life or death. Recently, at the Black Hat Technical Security...

Finger pricking may be a means to an end for diabetics who need to track their blood glucose levels, but it's a pain — both literally and figuratively speaking. They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and the necessity for a better alternative to the finger-pricking method is...

Some of today's mobile applications are becoming so sophisticated that they stand to transform mobile devices into medical devices — and should be regulated accordingly. Hoping to clarify which mobile applications are expected to adhere to regulations like any other medical device, the FDA has just...

Advances in prosthetics technology are usually more applicable to the developed world than a country like Afghanistan, even though it has one of the highest amputation rates. With this in mind, U.S. Army Task Force Spartan soldiers have produced a simple and easily reproduced prototype prosthetic leg...

North Carolina State University researchers have developed a memory device that is soft, functions well in wet environments, and features “the physical properties of Jell-O,” according to Dr. Michael Dickey, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NC...

An article from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society calls attention to a recent study published in Ergonomics in Design, "Using Storytelling to Elicit Design Guidance for Medical Devices." In the study, human factors/ergonomics researchers evaluated the use of storytelling as a qualitative research...

MIT researchers are developing a simple device that can clip onto an ordinary smartphone (or smart device such as an iPod) that can diagnose cataracts within minutes. The standard test for cataracts in an ophthalmologist's office assigns a score on a scale of 1 to 4 — from no cataracts to completely blocked vision....

A wheelchair propulsion system was designed to minimize injuries associated with prolonged manual wheelchair use. A CPR device makes it safe and easy for anyone to perform CPR compressions. Besides improving lives, what do these ideas have in common? They’ve both won the Grand Prize in the...

A Northwestern University study indicates that a tiny carbon particle called a nanodiamond may offer an effective drug delivery solution for hard-to-treat cancers.

For almost two decades, cardiologists have searched for ways to see dangerous blood clots before they cause heart attacks. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report that they have designed nanoparticles that find clots and make them visible to a new...

A newly developed self-assembling polymer film that bends and stretches when hit by light is pointing the way to a new family of functional materials. This flexing film is the first material to have been made by coaxing complex molecules to form large-scale, highly ordered 3D arrays...

Scientists at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and the UC San Diego division of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2) are working to bring three-dimensional video feeds into the operating room by leveraging the use of autostereoscopic displays. Their hope...

Researchers at Purdue University and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have overcome a fundamental obstacle in developing breath-analysis technology to rapidly diagnose patients by detecting chemical compounds called "biomarkers" in a person's respiration in real time.

University of Arizona engineers have designed a new probe that allows for simple self-testing of glaucoma. It can also be used in situations that are either difficult to address or impossible to test with current procedures. The probe works by gently rubbing the eyelid to detect...

UCLA neuroscientists have collaborated with physicists to develop a non-invasive, ultra-high-speed microscope that can record in real time the firing of thousands of individual neurons in the brain as they communicate, or miscommunicate, with each other.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute engineering researchers have developed pistons, in which oscillating droplets of ferrofluid can be used to pump small volumes of liquid. They can also function as liquid lenses that vibrate at high speeds and move in and out of focus as they change...

An international team of physicists and neuroscientists has reported a breakthrough in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that generates brain scans more than seven times faster than currently possible. The improvements allow full 3D brain scans in less than half a second, instead of the typical 2 to 3 seconds.

Sanjeevi Sivasankar was looking for a better tool to study how cells adhere to each other. Cells have surface proteins, called cadherins, that help them stick together. Different kinds of cells have different kinds of cadherins. The typical tools for observing and measuring those...

Ultrasound, a reverberating pitch too high for the human ear to recognize, has many applications including creating images of fetuses in the womb. But Elisa Konofagou, a professor at Columbia University, may be on the brink of uncovering a new use for ultrasound - the ability to temporarily open...

A new system for femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery developed at Stanford University School of Medicine uses a new approach to make the procedure less dependent on surgical skill and allow for greater consistency.

A first-of-its-kind clinical trial of robot-assisted brachytherapy for treating prostate cancer will take place at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Prostate brachytherapy, which requires accurate insertion of some 60 to 120 radioactive seeds in very specific places in the prostate, calls for a high...

Princeton engineers have developed a sensor that may revolutionize how drugs and medical devices are tested for contamination, and in the process also help ensure the survival of two species of threatened animals. In the wild, the African clawed frog produces antibacterial peptides...

One of the main techniques for measuring and monitoring mental activity, called functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), can often be impaired because a person's hair gets in the way. A team of researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Texas at Arlington have...

University of Arkansas at Little Rock researchers are inventing a "smart" cane that will help guide visually impaired users with a Flash LADAR (laser detection and ranging) sensor that provides a more detailed "picture" of the physical environment.

Researchers are developing microelectronic circuitry to guide the growth of axons in a brain damaged by an exploding bomb, car crash, or stroke. The goal is to rewire the brain connectivity and bypass the region damaged by trauma, in order to restore normal behavior and movement.

Engineers at UC Berkeley have developed a pressure-sensitive electronic material from semiconductor nanowires. The material functions like human skin, incorporating the ability to feel and touch objects, said Ali Javey, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences and head of the UC Berkeley...