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3D Printing Gets a Turbo Boost

A major drawback to 3D printing — the slow pace of the work — could be alleviated through a software algorithm developed at the University of Michigan. The algorithm allows printers to deliver high-quality...

Making Automation and Robotics Accessible to Small Manufacturers

The AMRC Integrated Manufacturing Group (IMG) has opened a new facility designed to enable smaller companies to more easily conduct research into machining and assembly...

Medical Devices Part of Healthy U.S. Manufacturing

In the past two decades, output growth in U.S. manufacturing has declined, but the largest firms have managed to thrive, notes a new report form McKinsey & Company. The tech sector,...

A $10 Microchip Turns 2D Ultrasound Machines to 3D Imaging Devices

Technology that keeps track of how your smartphone is oriented can now give $50,000 ultrasound machines many of the 3D imaging abilities of their $250,000 counterparts —...

Plastic Nanoparticles Inspired by Nature Could Improve Cancer Drug Delivery

Scientists have developed a way to control the shape of polymer molecules so that they self-assemble into nonspherical nanoparticles — an advance that could...

Spider Silk Improves Hearing Aid Microphones

New research shows that fine fibers like spider silk actually improve the quality of microphones for hearing aids. The microphone improves the directional sensing across a wide variety of...

Jellyfish-Inspired Electronic Skin Glows When It Gets Hurt

Electronic-skin technologies for prosthetics and robots can detect the slightest touch or breeze. But oddly, the sensors that make this possible do not respond effectively to a...

Gold ‘Nanoprobes’ Track Blood Flow in Tiny Vessels

Scientists have designed gold nanoparticles, no bigger than 100 nm, that can be coated and used to track blood flow in the smallest blood vessels in the body. By improving our...

Augmented Tongue Ultrasound for Speech Therapy

A team of researchers has developed a system that can display the movements of our own tongues in real time. Captured using an ultrasound probe placed under the jaw, these movements are...

Breath Test Shows Whether You’re Burning Fat

Experts advise anyone looking to shed extra pounds is to eat less and exercise more. One way is with endurance training, during which the body burns not only carbohydrates such as sugar, but...

Surgical Implant Grows with a Child

Until now, the use of medical implants in children has been complicated by the fact that fixed-size implants cannot expand in tune with a child’s natural growth. To address this, a team of researchers...

Watching What You Eat? Flexible Sensors Could Monitor Food Intake

Researchers have built a flexible sensor that can be rolled up and swallowed. Upon ingestion, the sensor adheres to the stomach wall or intestinal lining, where it can...

Creating the Future: A New Way to Join Arteries

A novel, pencil-sized device now provides surgeons with an alternative to traditional methods of suturing arteries. The Arterial Everter, Medical Category winner of the 2017 “Create the...

A Wearable Sensor that Bends, Stretches, and Moves

A team of engineers has created the most functional flexible transistor in the world — and with it, a fast, simple and inexpensive fabrication process that’s easily scalable to the...

Zinc Sensor Opens New ‘Windows to the Body’

A new zinc sensor has been developed that will allow for a deeper understanding of the dynamic roles that metal ions play in regulating health and disease in the living body.

Small Chip Could Revolutionize Diagnostics

Scientists have developed a completely new method for the analysis of molecules in liquids on a chip. The possible applications of this technology could revolutionize medical diagnostics,...

MRI-Robot-Guided Stroke Rehab

A researcher is developing methods using functional MRI and wrist-controlled robots to assess brain activity in response to a changing set of rehabilitation exercises in stroke patients.

Solving Medical’s Big Data Problem

The medical field has a data problem. The issue isn’t a lack of data, but rather a lack of structure. Every year researchers publish thousands of studies describing the results of clinical trials. But...

Paper-Based TB Test Could Boost Diagnoses in Developing Countries

Diagnosing tuberculosis (TB) early can allow patients to receive the medicine they need and also help prevent the disease from spreading. But in resource-limited areas,...

Miniature Microchip Technology Could Be Used to Track Smart Pills

A prototype miniature medical device could ultimately be used in “smart pills” to diagnose and treat diseases. A key to the new technology — and what makes it unique...

Better, Cheaper Bio-Ink Could Be Used to Create Artificial Organs

A new bio-ink may support a more efficient and inexpensive fabrication of human tissues and organs. Using techniques like 3D printing, scientists are creating bio-material...

Artificial ‘Skin’ Gives Robotic Hand a Sense of Touch

A team of researchers has reported a breakthrough in stretchable electronics that can serve as an artificial skin, allowing a robotic hand to sense the difference between hot and...

Skin Patch Dissolves ‘Love Handles’

Researchers have devised a medicated skin patch that could be used to burn off pockets of unwanted fat such as “love handles” and treat metabolic disorders, such as obesity and diabetes. The patch...

Conformal Metasurface Coating Eliminates Crosstalk

A team of electrical engineers have developed a way to simultaneously control diverse optical properties of dielectric waveguides by using a two-layer coating, each layer with a near zero...

New AI Algorithm Monitors Sleep with Radio Waves

To make it easier to diagnose and study sleep problems, engineers have created a device to monitor sleep stages without sensors attached to the body. Their device instead uses an advanced...

High-Frequency Chip Offers More Bandwidth for Imaging

A novel, high-frequency electronic chip is potentially capable of transmitting tens of gigabits of data per second. The chip was designed using a phased array antenna system, which...

‘Origami’ Organs May Regenerate Tissue

Scientists and engineers have invented a range of bioactive “tissue papers” made of materials derived from organs that are thin and flexible enough to even fold into an origami bird. The new...

Muscle-like Device Lifts 165 Times its Weight

Imagine repeatedly lifting 165 times your weight without breaking a sweat — a feat normally reserved for heroes like Spider-Man. Engineers have discovered a simple, economical way to make a...

Rapid 3D Printing in Water Opens Doors for Personalized Medical Devices

A new type of photoinitiator for 3D printing in water could allow for the creation of biofriendly 3D printed structures. 3D printing in water opens exciting...