Tech Briefs

Improving Mid-Infrared Imaging and Sensing

A new way of taking images in the mid-infrared part of the spectrum, developed by researchers at MIT and elsewhere, could enable a wide variety of applications, including thermal imaging, biomedical...

Electrode Shape Improves Neurostimulation for Small Targets

A cross-like shape helps the electrodes of implantable neurostimulation devices to deliver more charge to specific areas of the nervous system, possibly prolonging device life span,...

Tiny Tooth-Mounted Sensors Track Food Intake

Monitoring in real time what happens in and around our bodies can be invaluable in the context of healthcare or clinical studies, but not so easy to do. That could soon change thanks to new,...

Therapeutic Gel Shows Promise Against Cancerous Tumors

Scientists at the UNC School of Medicine and NC State have created an injectable gel-like scaffold that can hold combination chemo-immunotherapeutic drugs and deliver them locally to tumors...

‘Candy Cane’ Polymer Weave Could Power Future Functional Fabrics and Devices

If scientists are ever going to deliver on the promise of implantable artificial organs or clothing that dries itself, they’ll first need to solve the problem of...

Researchers Develop At-Home Pap Smear Test

An at-home Pap smear test is designed to reduce anxiety associated with the procedure and give women more control over their health without interfering with their work or social life. The Domi Care,...

3D Printing Fuels the Rise of Point-of-Care Medical Manufacturing

More than 95 percent of point-of-care (POC) professionals expect to see an expansion of POC manufacturing enabled by additive manufacturing, commonly called 3D printing....

Atomic Blasting Creates New Devices to Measure Nanoparticles

Like sandblasting at the nanometer scale, focused beams of ions ablate hard materials to form intricate three-dimensional patterns. The beams can create tiny features in the lateral...

New System Explores the Future of Automated Visual Inspection

The concept for a new automated visual inspection system that uses robotics to manipulate metallic components is being tested at the University of Sheffield’s Advanced...

Makerspace: Rapid Prototyping Facility Offers Hands-On Learning

The New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Newark College of Engineering has opened a training-focused, rapid prototyping facility that is central to both the university’s...

Stretchable Electronics a ‘Game Changer’ for Stroke Recovery Treatment

A groundbreaking new wearable device designed to be worn on the throat could be a game changer in the field of stroke rehabilitation.

Malleable ‘Electronic Skin’ Self-Healable, Recyclable

CU Boulder researchers have developed a new type of malleable, self-healing and fully recyclable “electronic skin” that has applications ranging from robotics and prosthetic...

Flexible Micro LEDs Can Control Behavior of Neurons

A KAIST research team has developed flexible vertical micro LEDs (f-VLEDs) using anisotropic conductive film (ACF)-based transfer and interconnection technology. The team, led by Professor...

Repetition Key to Self-Healing, Flexible Medical Devices

Medical devices powered by synthetic proteins created from repeated sequences of proteins may be possible, according to materials science and biotechnology experts, who looked at material...

Near-Infrared Light May Identify Breast Cancer Patients Who Will Benefit Most from Chemotherapy

A new optical imaging system developed at Columbia University uses red and near-infrared light to identify breast cancer patients who will respond...

Biosensor Could Monitor Glucose Levels in Tears and Sweat

Constantly tracking a person's glucose levels through their tears or sweat could be one step closer to providing people with diabetes an improved monitoring tool. Researchers report in...

Nonprofit Pushes Design Limits to Develop Life-Saving Technology for Underprivileged Communities

Nearly four million infants in developing countries die each year within a month of birth due to complications of prematurity, low birth weight,...

Making Heart Transplants Obsolete with Small Removable Pump

On the 50th anniversary of the first heart transplant, which occurred in December 1967, a University of Houston biomedical engineer is creating a next-generation heart pump for...

Squirtable Surgical Glue Could Transform Surgeries and Save Lives

Sutures and staples are the traditional methods for closing surgical incisions and wounds in emergency situations. However, these methods can be inadequate in complex surgeries...

Small Sensor Array Offers Easier Way to Image Brain

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories want to use small magnetic sensors to image the brain in a way that's simpler and less expensive than the magnetoencephalography system now used.

MEG Technology Improves Diagnosis of Epilepsy

Leti, a research institute of CEA Tech, has taken a major step toward development of next-generation magnetoencephalography (MEG) that could significantly reduce the cost of MEG systems and scans,...

New Patch Aims to Turn Energy-Storing Fats into Energy-Burning Fats

A new system combines a new way to deliver drugs, via a micro-needle patch, with drugs that are known to turn energy-storing white fat into energy-burning brown fat. This...

Nanotexturing Creates Bacteria-Killing Spikes on Stainless Steel Surfaces

By using an electrochemical etching process on a common stainless-steel alloy, researchers have created a nanotextured surface that kills bacteria while not harming...

Laser Direct Structuring for Sensor Manufacturing

Every day the world’s leading medical device companies rely upon laser direct structuring (LDS) to meet their most demanding design and performance requirements. Millions of electronic...

Smartphone App Shows Promise Monitoring Chemotherapy Patients

Cancer patients receiving chemotherapy can be remotely monitored using their smartphone sensors and an algorithm that detects worsening symptoms based on objective changes in patient...

Therapy Robots a Step Closer to Reality

In tests, a swarm of robots measuring a few millionths of a meter long — about the size of a blood cell — were guided magnetically to sites in the stomach of rats. The robots were manufactured by...

Single Photon Camera Offers High Speed and High Resolution

Photon counting detectors with high spatiotemporal resolution are key tools of imaging techniques where picosecond timing and micrometer position imaging are required, such as time...

New Rapid Test Helps Diagnose Malaria

The WHO reports an estimated 429,000 malaria deaths each year. The disease mostly affects tropical and sub-tropical regions and in particular the African continent. The Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate...

Artificial Muscles Give Soft Robots Superpowers

The field of soft robotics has made leaps and bounds over the last decade as researchers worldwide have experimented with different materials and designs to allow once rigid, jerky machines to...