Tech Briefs

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Briefs: Materials

Polylactic acid, or PLA, is a biodegradable polymer commonly used to make a variety of products, from disposable cups to medical implants to drug-delivery systems. A team of Brown...

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Briefs: Medical

A device commonly found in living rooms around the world could be an inexpensive and effective means of evaluating the walking difficulties of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The Microsoft Kinect is a 3D...

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Briefs: Medical

University of California, Berkeley engineers have built the first dust-sized, wireless sensors that can be implanted in the body, bringing closer the day when a Fitbit-like device could...

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Briefs: Test & Measurement

As U.S. industry develops smaller mechanical systems, they face bigger challenges — microscopic parts are more likely to stick together and wear out when they make...

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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Researchers at Arizona State University have made potentially game-changing progress in the emerging realms of 3D printing and additive manufacturing — an advance that could have a...

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Briefs: Medical

Implantable diagnostic devices and smart wearable systems that are capable of in situ sample collection and integration with the complex 3D structure of biological tissues offer significant...

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Briefs: Medical

Clutches can be used to enhance the functionality of springs or actuators in robotic devices. A research team headed up by Steve Collins, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at...

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Briefs: Medical

Checking the state of arterial health could become as simple as monitoring a patient’s blood pressure. New technology developed at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory...

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Briefs: Medical

Researchers have developed a technique for coating polymer implants with a bioactive film that significantly increases bonding between the implant and surrounding bone in an animal model. The advance could...

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Briefs: Medical

Eye-tracking technology, which determines where in a visual scene people are directing their gaze, has been widely used in certain areas of medical and scientific research, but cost issues have kept it...

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Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

A group of Drexel University researchers used a rotating magnetic field to show how multiple chains of microscopic, magnetic bead-based robots can link up to reach impressive speeds swimming through a...

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Briefs: Medical

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) are bringing their idea for a “Window to the Brain” transparent skull implant closer to reality through the findings of two recently published...

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Briefs: Medical

Preliminary testing shows that a new device may enable existing breast cancer imagers to provide up to six times better contrast of breast tumors, while maintaining the same or better image quality and...

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Briefs: Medical

Researchers have developed an integrated, wearable system that monitors a user’s environment, heart rate, and other physical attributes to help predict and prevent asthma attacks. The system, called...

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Briefs: Connectivity

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and UL (Underwriters Laboratories) announced a signed Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) program to create medical device...

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Briefs: Medical

A research team led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Seoul National University has developed a new electric mesh device that can be wrapped around the heart to deliver...

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Briefs: Medical

The fast-growing Internet of Things (IoT) consists of millions of sensing devices in buildings, vehicles, and elsewhere that deliver reams of data online. However, this wide-ranging resource involves so...

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Briefs: Medical

A team of engineers at the Texas Analog Center of Excellence (TxACE) at UT Dallas is working to develop an affordable electronic nose that can be used in breath analysis for a wide range of...

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Briefs: Medical

Being able to manipulate virtual fingers, or even fingers attached to a functioning prosthetic device, is not the same as feeling like the device is part of your own body. Researchers at Arizona...

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Briefs: Medical

Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM

What if there were a way to test how lungs react to toxins without actually putting a subject at risk? That’s what scientists at Los Alamos National...

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Briefs: Medical

Children’s National Health System, Washington, DC

Surgeons and scientists at the Children’s National Health System’s Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical...

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Briefs: Medical

Chemical engineers at Stanford University discovered that a new elastomer synthesized there had too much elasticity for the testing equipment the lab possessed. In fact, the clamping machine...

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Briefs: Wearables

“Preterm labor is related to high morbidity, high mortality, and significant cost,” said Rubin Pillay, MD, PhD, assistant dean for global health innovation at the UAB School of Medicine. “If we...

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Briefs: Medical

Titanium found its initial use in aircraft because it is strong but light. Today, it’s found everywhere, from eyeglass frames and jewelry to sports gear, tools, surgical and dental implants, and...

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Briefs: Medical

A team of Cornell University graduate engineering students say that they envision a future where a healthcare robot could display a patient’s temperature and pulse, and then read and react to a...

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Briefs: Medical

A team of researchers led by the University of Colorado has determined that carbon-fiber composites, which are stronger than steel and lighter than aluminum, can be easily and cost-effectively...

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Briefs: Medical

Dr. Mark Rodefeld, a pediatric heart surgeon at Indiana University, has spent decades helping to fix children’s hearts. He found one problem particularly vexing, leading to years of his own research...

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Briefs: Medical

In a study led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), epitaxy, or growing crystalline film layers that are templated by a crystalline substrate, is a...

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Briefs: Medical

A team of electrical, computer, and mechanical engineering students at Rice University, calling itself Carpal Diem, has developed a testing suite to validate how well 3D-printed prosthetic hands...

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Ask the Expert

Dan Sanchez on How to Improve Extruded Components
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Improving extruded components requires careful attention to a number of factors, including dimensional tolerance, material selection, and processing. Trelleborg’s Dan Sanchez provides detailed insights into each of these considerations to help you advance your device innovations while reducing costs and speeding time to market.

Inside Story

Inside Story: Developing a Package Performance Testing Plan
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To find out more about the expertise required to develop a testing plan for package performance testing, MDB recently spoke with Sunny Modi, Director of Package Testing for Eurofins Medical Device Testing in Lancaster, PA.

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