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Implants & Prosthetics

Learn more about the materials and properties of today's advanced implants and prosthetics. Examples include cardiac pacemakers, defibrillators, and orthopedics.

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INSIDER: Medical
Soft Robotic Glove Improves Patients' Grasping Ability

A robotic glove built by a team of engineers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) could assist patients suffering from loss of hand motor control.

INSIDER: Medical
Electronic Devices Self-Destruct When Heated

University of Illinois engineers have created heat-activated self-destructing electronic devices. A radio-controlled trigger remotely prompts the process on demand.

INSIDER: Medical
Researchers Create Single-Molecule Diode

Columbia Engineering researchers have designed a new technique to build a single-molecule diode. Their results achieved rectification ratios as high as 250, fifty times higher than earlier designs.

INSIDER: Medical
Neuroprosthetic Device Enables Intuitive Control of Robotic Arm

Through a clinical collaboration between Caltech, Keck Medicine of USC, and Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, a man paralyzed from the neck down can use a robotic arm to perform a fluid hand-shaking gesture, drink a beverage, and even play "rock, paper, scissors."...

INSIDER: Medical
3D Bioprinting to Attempt Nerve Cell Regeneration

Researchers at Michigan Technological University, Houghton, recently acquired a 3D bioprinter with which they plan to “print” synthesized nerve tissue. The key, they say, is developing the right “bioink” or printable tissue. One of the team member’s research on cellulose nanocrystals as...

R&D: Medical
Brain-Machine Interface Controls Prosthetic Hand

A new algorithm allows a person to use his or her thoughts to grasp a bottle or other object. The non-invasive brain monitoring technique, developed by University of Houston researchers, will help the team understand the neuroscience behind the action of grasping.

INSIDER: Materials
Designing Better, Longer-Lasting Medical Implants

Implanted biomedical devices used for drug delivery, tissue engineering, or sensing can help improve disease treatment. But, often these devices are susceptible to attack by the immune system. To help reduce that immune-system rejection, a team of scientists at Massachusetts Institute of...

R&D: Medical
PolySTAT Polymer Strengthens Blood Clots

University of Washington researchers have created PolySTAT, a new injectable polymer that strengthens blood clots. The polymer, administered in a single shot, addresses internal injuries and reduces blood loss.

INSIDER: Medical
Photovoltaic Retinal Implant Improves Functional Vision

New wireless retinal implants from Stanford University researchers convert light transmitted from special glasses into electrical current. The resulting current stimulates the retinal neurons known as bipolar cells.

INSIDER: Medical
Researchers Develop Artificial Blood Vessels

Vienna University of Technology and Vienna Medical University researchers have created artificial blood vessels from a special elastomer material. To produce the vascular prostheses, polymer solutions were spun in an electrical field to form very fine threads and wound onto a spool. The prostheses can...

INSIDER: Medical
NIST Team Identifies 3D-Printing Intricacies

Manufacturing researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have identified important challenges for powder bed fusion, the chief method for "printing" metal parts. By identifying the factors that influence the manufacturing process, professionals will improve the creation...

INSIDER: Medical
Implantable Micropacemaker Resides Entirely Within Fetus

A team of investigators at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the University of Southern California have developed an implantable micropacemaker designed for use in a fetus. The micropacemaker, designated a Humanitarian Use Device by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA), will...

Applications: Medical

It’s not always easy to walk in someone else’s shoes. It’s even more difficult if those shoes belong to a person with an artificial leg. However, that’s exactly...

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R&D: Medical
Auditory Implant Bypasses Inner Ear

A team of hearing and communication experts led by the Keck School of Medicine of USC successfully implanted an auditory brainstem implant (ABI) device in four children who previously could not hear.

Global Innovations: Medical
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
http://actu.epfl.ch

Spinal cord injuries may no longer mean a lifetime of paralysis, say researchers at EPFL. They have...

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INSIDER: Medical
Artificial Hand Features Muscle-Like Wires

Inspired by nature, Saarland University researchers have equipped an artificial hand with muscles made from shape-memory wire. The new technology enables the fabrication of flexible and lightweight robot hands for industrial applications and novel prosthetic devices.

INSIDER: Medical

University of Maryland researchers have developed a spray-on material that stretches and reliably conducts electricity. The process could be used in electronic fabrics or artificial...

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INSIDER: Medical
Researchers Use Magnetic Fields to Stimulate Brain Tissue

Researchers at MIT have developed a method to stimulate brain tissue using external magnetic fields and injected magnetic nanoparticles. The technique allows direct stimulation of neurons, which could be an effective treatment for a variety of neurological diseases, without the need for...

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
Researchers Developing Bionic Heart

Scientists at the Texas Heart Institute are working to create a permanent artificial heart.

INSIDER: Medical
Robotic Ankle Keeps an Eye on the Road

Mo Rastgaar, a Michigan Technological University mechanical engineer, and his team have developed a robotic ankle that "sees" where it is going.

INSIDER: Medical
Artificial 'Smart Skin' Detects Subtle Pressures

A Seoul National University professor developed a synthetic technology that reproduces the sense of touching real human skin. The artificial skin senses pressure, temperature, strain, and humidity. The soft material is also embedded with self-heating elements.

INSIDER: Medical
New Material Self-Stretches

A University of Rochester team has fabricated a material that self-stretches as it cools. The rubber-like polymer reverts back to its original shape when heated.

R&D: Medical
Researchers Develop Self-Folding Origami Structures

While the Japanese art of origami has been “a rich source of inspiration” for scientists working to construct such 3D forms, the limitation to simple shapes has held up development of new applications in areas such as biomimetic systems, soft robotics and mechanical meta-materials,...

INSIDER: Medical
Bionic Hand Senses Touch, Temperature

Researchers from Newcastle University, United Kingdom, have developed a bionic hand that senses pressure and temperature, and transmits the information back to the brain.

INSIDER: Medical
Implantable Resonators Measure Tissue Oxygenation

Researchers from the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center have developed a technique to directly measure oxygen in deep-sited tumors.

INSIDER: Medical
Researchers Print Low-Cost Mechanical Sensor

Merging custom chemistry and 3D printing, University of Washington scientists created a bone-shaped plastic tab that turns purple under stretching. The low-cost, mechanical sensor offers an easy way to record the force on an object.

INSIDER: Medical

The Ladon security protocol, developed by Spain's University of the Basque Country/EHU researcher Jasone Astorga in the 12T (Telematics Research and Engineering) research group, protects the...

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R&D: Electronics & Computers
3D-Printed Contact Lens Combines Plastics and Electronics

An interdisciplinary team of engineers at Princeton University has embedded tiny light-emitting diodes (LEDs) into a standard contact lens, allowing the device to project beams of colored light. While the lens is not designed for actual use, especially since it requires an external power...

R&D: Materials
Squids Inspire Printable Thermoplastics

A team of engineers at Penn State, University Park, PA, is using squid to create an eco-friendly thermoplastic that can be used in 3D printing. Most plastics are made from fossil fuel sources or from synthetic oils. Thermoplastics can melt, be formed, and then solidify without degrading materials...

Ask the Expert

Eric Dietsch on the Benefits of Nitinol Wire
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In collaboration with the Fort Wayne Metals Engineering team, Eric Dietsch focuses on supporting customers with material recommendations, product development, and education. Eric is available to help you and your company with any Nitinol-related questions or needs that you may have.

Inside Story

Inside Story: Selecting and Implementing Automation Solutions
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To find out more about selecting and implementing automation solutions, MDB recently spoke with Dave McMorrow, Technical Director, MMT Automation and Michael Wall, Technical Director, Somex Automation, an MMT company.

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