Tech Briefs

Feature Image
Briefs: Medical
Customizable Spun-Fiber Heart Valve Grows with Children
Feature Image
Briefs: Medical
Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) Improves Efficient Delivery of Healthcare Products to Where They Are Needed
Feature Image
Briefs: Design
Real-Time Guidable-Tip Wire Aids in Surgically Treating Strokes
Feature Image
Briefs: Medical
Researchers Fabricate Health-Monitoring Sensors onto Ready-Made Wearables

Top Stories

Feature Image
INSIDER: Medical

Ultrathin Nanotech Promises to Help Tackle Antibiotic Resistance

Feature Image
Quiz: Medical

Medical Technology on the PGA Tour

Feature Image
INSIDER: Medical

Breaking Barriers in Drug Delivery with Better Lipid Nanoparticles

Feature Image
Features: Materials

Hydrogels as a Drug-Delivery Medium

Feature Image
Features: Medical

Overcoming Blockers to Digitizing Manufacturing Operations

Feature Image
INSIDER: Medical

Smart Pill Tracks Key Biomarkers in Real Time

Latest Tech Briefs

Briefs: Medical
AdvaMed: EPA’s EtO Proposals Create Significant Risk of a Healthcare Crisis
The EPA issued two separate proposals earlier this year covering the use of EtO for device sterilization: the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants and the preliminary interim decision under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.
Feature Image
Briefs: Medical
Dissolving Cardiac Device Monitors, Treats Heart Disease
Nearly 700k people in the U.S. die from heart disease every year. To help prevent those deaths, researchers have developed a new device to monitor and treat heart disease and dysfunction in the days, weeks, or months following such events.
Feature Image
Briefs: AR/AI
New AI Model Offers Way to Speed Up Drug Discovery
Researchers at MIT and Tufts University have devised an alternative computational approach based on a type of artificial intelligence algorithm known as a large language model.
Feature Image
Briefs: Medical
Robotic Pill Safely Delivers Injectable Osteoporosis Drug

A proven and effective medication for osteoporosis, which is currently only available as an injection, can be administered orally using a novel “robotic pill,” according to...

Feature Image
Briefs: Medical
Novel Microneedle Array Enables Breakthrough Treatment
A research team has designed a new microneedle patch to offer a highly effective nonantibiotic approach for the treatment of skin infection.
Feature Image
Briefs: Medical
'Smart' Sutures Deliver Drugs and Sense Inflammation

Inspired by sutures developed thousands of years ago, engineers have designed “smart” sutures that can not only hold tissue in place, but also detect inflammation and release...

Feature Image
Briefs: Medical
Implantable Drug-Delivery System Powered by Light
A team of scientists has developed novel technology with the potential to change the future of drug delivery. The device developed represents the first implantable drug-delivery system that is triggered by external light sources of different wavelengths, and not by electronics.
Feature Image
Briefs: Wearables
FDA Clears Bionic Pancreas for People with Type 1 Diabetes
A bionic pancreas — a wearable, pocket-sized, automated insulin delivery device — has been cleared by the FDA. The iLet Bionic Pancreas is now commercially available.
Feature Image
Briefs: Medical
New Drug-Delivery Method Reverses Senescence of Stem Cells
The new method utilizes antioxidants in the form of polymer-stabilized crystals. Traditional methods grow crystals within reactors, but using microfluidics, the researchers can create crystals that are all the same size and dosage.
Feature Image
Briefs: Medical
Novel Drug-Delivery Development Center Opens in UK
The Intracellular Drug Delivery Centre will help predict the stability, efficacy, performance, and any potential adverse reactions of RNA vaccines and therapeutics.
Feature Image
Briefs: AR/AI
AI Tailors DNA for Future Drug Development
With the help of an AI, researchers have succeeded in designing synthetic DNA that controls the cells’ protein production.
Feature Image
Briefs: Medical
RFID Labels Enhance Tracking of Prefilled Syringes

Schreiner MediPharm, a Germany-based provider of innovative functional label solutions for the healthcare industry, has partnered with SCHOTT Pharma, a specialist in drug-containment...

Feature Image
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Leveraging Edge Computing and Wearable Devices in Clinical Trials
Today, the exponential growth of data poses significant challenges for traditional cloud computing models, which struggle to keep up with demand. That’s where edge computing comes in.
Feature Image
Briefs: Medical
The Adoption of Acoustic AI in Healthcare
AI has made a big impact in medicine in the visual realm. By detecting abnormalities, classifying and quantifying cancerous cells, and assisting surgeons with real-time guidance, visual AI has improved early detection, sped up diagnosis, and increased precision and accuracy across a number of medical specialties.
Feature Image
Briefs: Medical
Disruption Is on the Horizon: Trends in Precision Surgery
Medical technology is nearing the brink of a large-scale disruption. Attitudes are shifting, and there is a renewed focus on interoperability and data. Throughout 2023, I’m excited to see clinical influencers increasingly engaged to apply their expertise to clinical product development.
Feature Image
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Engineers Develop Low-Cost Human Biomarker Sensor Designs
Penn State researchers have developed a low-cost, RNA-based technology to detect and measure biomarkers, which can help decode the body’s physiology.
Feature Image
Briefs: Medical
Artificial Intelligence: Making Innovations Fit for the MDR
Thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) has long shaped product development across a variety of areas, including the medtech industry.
Feature Image
Briefs: Wearables
Thermoelectric Generator: Reliable Power for Wearable Electronics
Researchers have developed a thermoelectric generator (TEG) that can continuously generate electricity using heat from the sun and a radiative element that releases heat into the air.
Feature Image
Briefs: Medical
Brain Computer Interface Helps Immobilized Patients Control Devices
A new project at Aalto University is developing techniques that will enable immobilized patients to control devices using their brain activity.
Feature Image
Briefs: Wearables
Stretchable Knee Wearable Offers Insight into Improving e-Textiles for Healthcare
Researchers have developed a fully knitted, circuit-embedded knee wearable for wireless sensing of joint motion in real time. Compared to other knitted electronics, this model has fewer externally integrated components and a more sensitive sensor, making it less error prone.
Feature Image
Briefs: Medical
How to Eliminate PCB Static in Medical Electronics
For medical devices with critical electronic components, damage from ESD during manufacturing can introduce defects, with devices failing once the product is in use, endangering the patient’s safety.
Feature Image
Briefs: Wearables
Wearable Technology: DOD Investing in Powerful AI Algorithm That Could Rapidly Predict Disease
The Defense Department is looking to expand the use of its wearable technology to other infectious disease detection in service members, which leaders say will aid in readiness.
Feature Image
Briefs: Wearables
Programmable Smart Fabric Responds to Temperature and Electricity
A new smart material developed by researchers at the University of Waterloo is activated by both heat and electricity, making it the first ever to respond to two different stimuli.
Feature Image
Briefs: Medical
Implantable Device Shrinks Pancreatic Tumors
Houston Methodist nanomedicine researchers have found a way to tame pancreatic cancer — one of the most aggressive and difficult to treat cancers — by delivering immunotherapy directly into the tumor with a device that is smaller than a grain of rice.
Feature Image
Briefs: Wearables
Superhydrophobic Biosensor Measures Sweat Vapors on the Body
Wearable sensors can be used to monitor a person’s perspiration rate and provide information about the skin, nervous system activity, and underlying health conditions. Some sweat cannot be measured with current sensors.
Feature Image
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Soft Robotic Wearable Restores Arm Function for People with ALS
A team of researchers has developed a soft robotic wearable capable of significantly assisting upper arm and shoulder movement in people with ALS.
Feature Image
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Disposable, Eco-Friendly Sensors Provide Precise Wearable Dosimetry
Prof. Abhishek Singh Dahiya and his team present ZnO nano-wire-based high-performance ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors on flexible, biodegradable substrate.
Feature Image
Briefs: Wearables
Wearable Health Sensor Monitors Muscle Atrophy
Researchers at The Ohio State University have fabricated the first wearable sensor designed to detect and monitor muscle atrophy.
Feature Image
Briefs: Medical
Plastic Transistor Amplifies Biochemical Sensing Signal
The molecules in our bodies are in constant communication. Now, researchers have developed a new technology that makes it easier to eavesdrop on our body’s inner conversations.
Feature Image

Ask the Expert

Eric Dietsch on the Benefits of Nitinol Wire
Feature Image

In collaboration with the Fort Wayne Metals Engineering team, Eric Dietsch focuses on supporting customers with material recommendations, product development, and education. Eric is available to help you and your company with any Nitinol-related questions or needs that you may have.

Webcasts

Feature Image
Webinars: Medical

Scan-Based and Project Design for Medical

Feature Image
Upcoming Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Precision, Control and Repeatability: Harnessing the Power of UV...

Feature Image
Podcasts: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Here's an Idea: Medtech’s New Normal

Feature Image
Podcasts: Materials

Here's an Idea: A Plant-Based Gel That Saves Lives

Feature Image
Webinars: Medical

Adaptable Healthcare Solutions Designed for Safety and Security

Feature Image
Podcasts: Medical

Here's an Idea: AI in MedTech

Inside Story

Rapid Precision Prototyping Program Speeds Medtech Product Development

Rapid prototyping technologies play an important role in supporting new product development (NPD) by companies that are working to bring novel and innovative products to market. But in advanced industries where products often make use of multiple technologies, and where meeting a part’s exacting tolerances is essential, speed without precision is rarely enough. In such advanced manufacturing—including the medical device and surgical robotics industries — the ability to produce high-precision prototypes early in the development cycle can be critical for meeting design expectations and bringing finished products to market efficiently.

Videos