Particle accelerators are usually large and costly, but that will soon change if researchers have their way. The Accelerator on a Chip International Program (AChIP), funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation in the United States, aims to create an electron accelerator on a silicon chip. The fundamental idea is to replace accelerator structures made of metal with glass or silicon, and to use a laser instead of a microwave generator as an energy source. Due to glass's higher electric field load capacity, the acceleration rate can be increased and thus the same amount of energy can be transmitted to the particles within a shorter space, making the accelerator shorter by a factor of approximately 10 than traditional accelerators delivering the same energy.

By using light waves instead of electric current to transmit data, photonic chips — circuits for light — have advanced fundamental research in many areas from timekeeping to telecommunications. But for many applications, the narrow beams of light that traverse these circuits must be substantially widened in order to connect with larger, off-chip systems. Wider light beams could boost the speed and sensitivity of medical imaging and diagnostic procedures, security systems that detect trace amounts of toxic or volatile chemicals and devices that depend on the analysis of large groupings of atoms.

EXPLORER, the world's first medical imaging scanner that can capture a 3D picture of the whole human body at once, has produced its first scans.

Tablets and other mobile computing devices are part of everyday life, but using them can be difficult for people with paralysis. New research from the BrainGate consortium shows that a brain-computer interface (BCI) can enable people with paralysis to directly operate an off-the-shelf tablet device just by thinking about making cursor movements and clicks.

Optical fibers make the Internet happen. They are fine threads of glass, as thin as a human hair, produced to transmit light. Optical fibers carry thousands of gigabits of data per second across the world and back. The same fibers also guide ultrasound waves, somewhat similar to those used in medical imaging.

Heart surgery can be traumatic for patients. Having to continuously monitor your status without a doctor when you are back home can be even scarier. Imagine being able to do that with a simple sticker applied to your body.

Researchers from the Faculty of Chemical Technology Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Lithuania, are developing an artificial bone, which can be used for treating of the most common joint disease — osteoarthritis. The bifunctional composite imitates the complex osteochondral structure of a joint, i.e., both cartilage and bone tissues.

Lymphedema is the swelling that generally occurs in the arms or legs caused by the removal of or damage to lymph nodes as a part of cancer treatment. Treating it at the earliest possible stage is the best way to manage the condition and prevent it from leading to pain, recurrent infection, reduced mobility, and impaired function.

Biomedical engineers from Duke University and Washington University in St. Louis have demonstrated that, by injecting an artificial protein made from a solution of ordered and disordered segments, a solid scaffold forms in response to body heat, and in a few weeks seamlessly integrates into tissue.

Houston Methodist scientists have developed a nanodevice to deliver immunotherapy without side effects to treat triple-negative breast cancer. Inserted straight into a tumor, this nanofluidic seed makes it possible to deliver a one-time, sustained-release dose that would eliminate the need for patients to undergo several IV treatments over time.

Stem cells have two distinct characteristics that distinguish them from other cell types. First, they are unspecialized and can self-renew for long periods without significant changes in their general properties. Second, under certain physiologic or experimental conditions, stem cells can be induced to differentiate into various specialized cell types. Thus, stem cells hold great promise for regenerative medicine. There are two major types of stem cells: embryonic stem (ES) cells and adult stem cells. Adult stem cells exist in many types of mature tissues such as bone marrow, muscle, fat, and brain.

Fabricated using inexpensive and widely available organic pigments used in printing inks and cosmetics, an artificial retina was developed that consists of tiny pixels like a digital camera sensor on a nanometric scale.

An electronic capsule that measures gases in the gut to revolutionize the diagnosis of gut disorders could be available within four years, following an agreement between RMIT and Atmo Biosciences.

Duke University researchers have developed a handheld probe that can image individual photoreceptors in the eyes of infants. The technology, based on adaptive optics, will make it easier for physicians and scientists to observe these cells to diagnosis eye diseases and make early detection of brain-related diseases and trauma.

Self-powered devices that can be fit directly on human skin or tissue have great potential for medical applications. They could be used as physiological sensors for the real-time monitoring of heart or brain function in the human body. However, practical realization has been impractical due to the bulkiness of batteries and insufficient power supply, or due to noise interference from the electrical supply, impeding conformability and long-term operation.

Traditional handheld surgical tools continue to provide benefits where surgeons need instruments to be more rigid and have strong holding power to withstand complex procedures. The majority of these small handheld devices include tubing technology. Those made with metal can be formed to meet specific needs. Base tubing can be created from drawn tubing or from flat sheets of metal in a patented technique known as rolled-tube technology, which is ideal for creating high volume disposable devices.

The general public might think of the 21st century as an era of revolutionary technological platforms, such as smart-phones or social media. But for many scientists, this century is the era of another type of platform: two-dimensional materials, and their unexpected secrets.

Researchers at Washington State University have developed an implantable, biofuel-powered sensor that runs on sugar and can monitor a body's biological signals to detect, prevent and diagnose diseases.

Motion capture (Mocap) is a technique used in the film industry to digitally track a human actor's movements and precisely transfer those motions to an animated figure. But it has other applications as well. Digitally tracking a person's motions can be used to analyze medical problems such as degenerative disc disease, chronic lower back pain, and scoliosis in adults and children.

Modern medicine has been able to drastically improve the quality of life of the global population. Diseases such as polio, syphilis, tuberculosis, or the plague have been almost eradicated and are successfully treatable or curable. The next milestone for modern medicine is personalized medicine. This novel discipline does not target the broad population, but focuses on the individual for the diagnosis and beyond.

Micro- and nano-level microscopy, whether used in academic laboratories or industry, is susceptible to vibrations from the environment, requiring these instruments to employ vibration isolation systems. When measuring a very few angstroms, nanometers, or microns of displacement, an absolutely stable surface must be maintained to support the instrument. Any vibrations that are transferred into the mechanical structure of the instrument will cause vertical and horizontal noise, compromising data sets and limiting the ability to measure highresolution features.

Artificial intelligence (AI) holds real potential for improving both the speed and accuracy of medical diagnostics. But before clinicians can harness the power of AI to identify conditions in images such as x-rays, they have to “teach” the algorithms what to look for.

Resistance welding with direct current (DC) using inverter technology reduces costs by improving quality, reducing maintenance, and increasing productivity. Switching from traditional alternative current (AC) to DC with inverters also reduces a range of facilities costs and improves the process. Finally, it provides the ability to weld new materials, so it can add to a company's capability or product scope.

Hold speed or hold velocity? How many machines today have it, and what does it do to the process?

As Ralph Colby peers at the microscope image in front of him, he thinks he can make them out — “shish kebabs,” as polymer scientists call them. Nobody knows for sure what they are, but these shapes that appear at seemingly unpredictable times when certain plastics cool have a big impact on the overall properties of plastics. It's not a big deal when a plastic fork breaks, but if a bearing cage on an airplane were to break, it could put people in danger.

A team led by the University of California San Diego has developed a chip that can detect a type of genetic mutation known as a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and wirelessly send the results in real time to a smartphone, computer, or other electronic device. The chip is at least 1,000 times more sensitive at detecting an SNP than current technology.

Researchers at Caltech have developed an implantable pressure sensor that can reside in the human eye for years at a time while wirelessly sending data about the eye’s health to the patient or medical professionals. The implant could make it easier to prevent one of the leading causes of blindness.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are a major, yet often preventable threat to patient safety, and they can have a significant impact on the survival rate of patients who undergo procedures and treatments. In particular, catheter-associated infections are difficult to prevent, even when products are made of silicone, due to their inherent positioning both inside and outside of the body.

Fluorescence-based biosensing and bioimaging technologies are widely used in research and clinical settings to detect and image various biological species of interest. While fluorescence-based detection and imaging techniques are convenient to use, they suffer from poor sensitivity. For example, when a patient carries low levels of antigens in the blood or urine, the fluorescent signal can be feeble, making visualization and diagnosis difficult. For this reason, fluorescence-based detection is not always preferred when sensitivity is a key requirement.

An international team of researchers have developed a low-cost sensor made from semiconducting plastic that can be used to diagnose or monitor a wide range of health conditions, such as surgical complications or neurodegenerative diseases.