Implants & Prosthetics

3D-Printed Tracheal Splints Used in Groundbreaking Pediatric Surgery

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has performed Georgia’s first-ever procedure to place 3D-printed tracheal splints in a pediatric patient. Biomedical engineers at the...

Miniature Connections Drive Advances in Emerging Neuro Technologies

The value of neuromodulation devices is that they offer a “third option” in the treatment of neurological disorders — one that can provide drug-free relief from symptoms...

Increase Dental Implant Longevity with Bio-functional TiN and DLC Coatings

Artificial dental implants are the most reliable restoration option available for mature tooth loss. Despite their long potential lifespan, poor integration into the jaw...

Product Focus: Specialty Metals

Round and Flat Wire Ulbrich, Westminster, SC, offers a fine wire stocking program for medical device developers who need round and flat wire quickly. Materials available include 304V, nitinol, tunga, L6050,...

New Products and Services

Photo Etching A capabilities brochure from Tech-Etch, Plymouth, MA, describes how the photo etching process enables the company to produce prototype quantities and large production runs of intricate parts for many...

A New Generation of Artificial Retinas Based on 2D Materials

University of Texas at Austin,Austin, TXwww.utexas.eduSeoul National University,Seoul, South Koreawww.useoul.edu Scientists report they have successfully developed and tested the...

Programmable Hydrogels Form Complex 3D Shapes

Researchers have developed a process by which 2D hydrogels can be programmed to expand and shrink in a space- and time-controlled way that applies force to their surfaces, enabling the formation...

Electronic Brain Implant Stops Seizures

Researchers have successfully demonstrated how an electronic device implanted directly into the brain can detect, stop, and even prevent epileptic seizures. The work represents an advance in the...

Sensory Device Aids Amputees

Sensory feedback — achieved by direct interfaces attached to the nerves — fundamentally changed how study participants used their mechanical attachment, “transforming it from a sporadically used tool into a...

Wireless Pressure-Sensing Eye Implant Could Help Prevent Blindness

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...

Real-Time Ultraflexible Sensor Improves Inflammation Testing

The University of Hong KongHong Kongwww.hku.hk Unlike their inorganic counterparts like silicon, organic semiconductors can operate under conditions such as bending or stretching....

‘Smart Stent’ Detects Narrowing of Arteries

University of British ColumbiaVancouver, BC, Canadanews.ubc.ca For every three individuals who have had a stent implanted to keep clogged arteries open and prevent a heart attack, at least one...

Orthopedic Replacement Implants Market: Drivers and Developments

The global market for minor orthopedic replacement implants exceeded $1.5 billion in 2017. Analysts from The Business Research Company forecast the market value to grow at a rate...

Electronic Skin Stretched to New Limits

An electrically conductive hydrogel that takes stretchability, self-healing, and strain sensitivity to new limits outperforms previously reported hydrogels and introduces new functionalities. Smart...

Bringing a Human Touch to Modern Prosthetics

Amputees often experience the sensation of a “phantom limb”—a feeling that a missing body part is still there. That sensory illusion is closer to becoming a reality thanks to a team of...

Building a Personalized Bone from Stem Cells

A new bone engineering technique allows researchers to combine segments of bone engineered from stem cells to create large-scale, personalized grafts that will enhance treatment for those...

Knee Replacement, Hearing Aid Parts Win at Powder Metallurgy Design Competition

A knee-replacement part and a hearing aid part were winners in the medical/dental category in the 2018 Powder Metallurgy (PM) Design Excellence Awards...

‘Smart’ Prosthetic Ankle Takes Fear Out of Tough Terrain

A new intelligent prosthetic ankle can figure out what the patient is doing and then adapts and functions as it should. Researchers say it adapts to any kind of shoe and any...

Low-Cost Prosthetic Foot Mimics Natural Walking

Engineers have developed a simple, low-cost, passive prosthetic foot that they can tailor to an individual. Given a user’s body weight and size, the researchers can tune the shape and...

Exoskeletons, Surgical Robotics Drive Advances in Motion System Technologies

New technologies are coming along every day that are designed to make an engineer's life easier when attempting to fulfill his or her motion control system needs. This...

Elastic Fiber Revolutionizes Smart Clothes

Scientists have found a fast and simple way to make super-elastic, multi-material, high-performance fibers. Their fibers have already been used as sensors on robotic fingers and in clothing. This...

Applying an Electric Field May Lead to More Resilient Dental Implants

Researchers have observed a way that the brittle nature of ceramics can be overcome as they sustain heavy loads, leading to more resilient structures such as dental implants.

Spikes of Graphene Kill Bacteria on Medical Implants

Chalmers University of TechnologyGothenberg, Swedenwww.chalmers.se Operations for surgical implants, such as hip and knee replacements or dental implants, have increased in recent years....

Getting a Little More ‘Hip Action’

Researchers have developed a method that could extend the life of an artificial hip by adding an array of microscopic indentations that increase the thickness of a lubricating film on its surface. Each...

Prosthetic Arms Provide Controlled Sensory Feedback

Researchers have developed a control algorithm that regulates current so that a prosthetics user feels steady sensation, even when the electrodes begin to peel off or when sweat builds up.

A Regenerative Vascular Graft: Innovations in Textile Engineering and Advanced Biomaterials

The majority of cardiovascular devices are permanent and, with a few exceptions, are nondegradable. In general, these devices successfully fulfill...

Simple Method Developed for 3D Biofabrication Based on Bacterial Cellulose

Bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibers are promising building blocks for the development of sustainable materials with the potential to outperform conventional synthetic...

Implantable Islet Cells Come with Their Own Oxygen Supply

Since the 1960s, researchers have been interested in the possibility of treating type 1 diabetes by transplanting islet cells — the pancreatic cells that are responsible for producing...

World's Smallest Optical Implantable Biodevice Controls Brain Patterns

Japanese researchers describe a new implantable device no bigger than the width of a coin that can be used to control brain patterns. The device, which can be read about in...