Tech Briefs

Liquid Flow Influenced by a Quantum Effect in Water

Water is the basis of all life on earth. Its structure is simple — two hydrogen atoms bound to one oxygen atom — yet its behavior is unique among liquids, and scientists still do not fully...

Active Implants Receives FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for NUsurface Meniscus Implant

FDA has granted a Breakthrough Device Designation to Active Implants’ NUsurface® Meniscus Implant. Active Implants, LLC develops orthopedic implant...

Options for Reducing Friction When Using Silicone Elastomers

Silicone has a long and proven history of use with medical devices and can provide many benefits, from flexibility to cushioning. When working with some medical devices, however,...

Injectable, Flexible Electrode Could Replace Rigid Nerve-Stimulating Implants

By electrically stimulating nerves, neuromodulation therapies can reduce epileptic seizures, soothe chronic pain, and treat depression and a host of other health...

Low-Field MRI Improves Lung, Cardiac Imaging

National Institutes of Health researchers, along with researchers at Siemens, have developed a high-performance, low-magnetic-field MRI system that vastly improves image quality of the lungs and...

Double-Sided Tape for Tissues Could Replace Surgical Sutures

Inspired by a sticky substance that spiders use to catch their prey, MIT engineers have designed a double-sided tape that can rapidly seal tissues together.

Good Design Controls Are Critical to Avoiding FDA Issues

Medical device companies recognize that having an emphasis on design controls helps to assure good design and engineering practices that yield high-quality solutions. This is critical...

New Silk Materials Can Wrinkle into Detailed Patterns, Then Unwrinkle to Be “Reprinted”

Researchers at Tufts University School of Engineering have developed silk materials that can wrinkle into highly detailed patterns — including words,...

Prototype Smartphone App Can Help Parents Detect Early Signs of Eye Disorders in Children

A Baylor University researcher’s prototype smartphone app — designed to help parents detect early signs of various eye diseases in their children such...

Implantable Cancer Traps Could Provide Earlier Diagnosis, Help Monitor Treatment

Invasive procedures to biopsy tissue from cancer-tainted organs could be replaced by simply taking samples from a tiny “decoy” implanted just beneath the skin,...

Bioelectronic Implant Could Prevent Opioid Deaths

Researchers are developing a novel, implantable device that can sense the effects of a potentially fatal level of ingested opioids and then automatically and immediately deliver a life-saving...

Novel Applications of Electrospinning Could Improve Devices

When you visit Andrew Steckl’s lab at the University of Cincinnati, you see a nondescript glass box that weaves together different fibers. He sees endless possibility.

Controlling Wheelchairs with a Wearable Brain-Machine Interface

Combining new classes of nanomembrane electrodes with flexible electronics and a deep learning algorithm could help disabled people wirelessly control an electric wheelchair,...

A Fast, Simple Sampling Method for Characterizing Volatile Organic Compounds Emitted from Medical Devices

In 2018, an update on regulations for respiratory medical devices meant that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from the devices...

Scientists Create Pancreas on a Chip

By combining two powerful technologies, scientists are taking diabetes research to a whole new level. In a study led by Harvard University’s Kevin Kit Parker and published in the journal Lab on a Chip,...

A Smart Artificial Hand for Amputees Merges User and Robotic Control

EPFL scientists are developing new approaches for improved control of robotic hands — in particular for amputees — that combines individual finger control and automation...

The Future of 3D Printing: From Prototyping to Production

Additive manufacturing, better known as 3D printing, has been evolving for the last 30 years. Now it’s set to enter the mainstream, and evolving technology including new printers and...

Researchers Develop Eco-Friendly Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives

Chemical engineering researchers at Oregon State University have developed a vegetable-oil-based adhesive that could provide an eco-friendly option in making items such as bandages,...

Prosthetic Arm Can Move and Feel

Keven Walgamott had a good “feeling” about picking up the egg without crushing it.

Closing the Terahertz Gap: Tiny Laser Is Important Step Toward New Sensors

In a major step toward developing portable scanners that can rapidly measure molecules in pharmaceuticals or classify tissue in patients’ skin, researchers have...

Less Training Needed for Brain-Machine Interfaces

Brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) are rarely found outside of medical clinics, where the disabled receive hours or days of training in order to operate wheelchairs with their minds. Now the...

Smart Brain Stimulators: Next-Generation Parkinson's Disease Therapy

Researchers at the University of Houston have found neuro biomarkers for Parkinson's disease that can help create the next generation of “smart” deep brain stimulators,...

Ultraviolet Rays Quickly Bash Bacteria on Mobile Devices

Ultraviolet light has been used for more than 30 years as a source of disinfectant. A newly introduced product uses the technology to eliminate bacteria on cell phones, tablets and other...

3D Printing Process Maximizes Performance for Paek Parts

To help customers with an accelerated route to market for 3D printed polyaryletherketone (PAEK) parts, UK-based Victrex has developed differentiated 3D printing [additive manufacturing...

High-Volume Electrospinning Production Platform for Medical Devices

A newly developed platform has been designed for large-scale industrial manufacturing of reproducible and scalable fiber-based scaffolds for Class I, II and III medical...

NIST Research Sparks New Insights on Laser Welding

On its surface, the work is deceptively simple: Shoot a high-power laser beam onto a piece of metal for a fraction of a second and see what happens. But researchers say the physics of laser...

Cancer Device Determines Whether Targeted Chemotherapy Is Working

Rutgers University researchers have created a device that can determine whether targeted chemotherapy drugs are working on individual cancer patients. The portable device, which...

3D Printed Pill Samples Gut Microbiome to Aid Diagnosis and Treatment

A research team led by Tufts University engineers has developed a 3D printed pill that samples bacteria found in the gut — known as the microbiome — as it passes through...

Senior Virtual Assistant Mitigates Impact of Dementia and Delirium

An estimated 50 million people worldwide are living with dementia, resulting in more than $1 trillion each year in healthcare costs. Artificial emotional intelligence (AEI)...