Implants & Prosthetics

Using an inexpensive 3D printer, biomedical engineers at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, say that they have developed a custom-fitted, implantable device with embedded sensors that could treat cardiac disorders.

Cochlear implants, which electrically stimulate the auditory nerve, grant some hearing to those who might otherwise be deaf. One drawback has been that the devices require that a transmitter be affixed externally to the skull, with a wire snaking down to a joint microphone and power source that looks like...

Silk and diamonds are the ingredients for a new kind of tiny glowing particle that could provide researchers with a novel technique for biological imaging and drug delivery. The particles, just tens of nanometers across, are made of nanodiamonds covered in silk.

Studying how primitive man learned to walk upright, say researchers in the College of Engineering at Oregon State University, Corvallis, could lead to improved prosthetic lower limbs. Their findings outline a specific interaction between the ankle, knee, muscles, and tendons that improve understanding of how...

Researchers at the University of Delaware, Newark, have developed a “smart” hydrogel that can deliver medicine on demand, in response to mechanical force. What’s new about their material, is its ability to release medicine in response to force, a major challenge for people with osteoarthritis, which...

A University of Toronto lab is partnering with an international NGO and a Ugandan hospital to use 3D scanning and printing to speed the process of creating and fitting sockets for artificial limbs. While 3D printing has been around for some time, a new generation of fast, cheap 3D...

When babies are born with congenital heart defects, like a hole, time is of the essence to quickly and safely secure a device inside the heart. Sutures take too long and can cause damage to fragile heart tissue, and currently available adhesives are either too toxic or lose their sticking power in the...

Researchers at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, a leading technology university, say they have developed electronic components that are so thin and flexible they can even be wrapped around a single hair without damaging the electronics. This may open up new possibilities for ultra-thin, transparent...

A team of researchers at Aalto University, Finland, developed a method to select new surface treatment processes for orthopaedic and dental implants that may reduce the risk of infection. Implants are commonly made from metals, such as titanium alloys, which are made porous during processing used to...

About a month ago, I had a chance to watch the award-winning documentary “The Incredible Bionic Man,” built entirely of prosthetic parts and implantable synthetic organs by leading scientists and roboticists, and hosted by the Smithsonian Channel. I was transported a future that was barely envisioned by...

A team of scientists from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, and the University of Kansas Medical Center have restored behavior using a neural prosthesis in a rat model of brain injury. Ultimately, the team hopes to develop a device that rapidly and substantially improves function...

With all of the mechanical advances in prosthetic limbs recently, few, if any, prosthetic limbs send sensory information back to the wearer, giving them a realistic sense of touch. That could soon, change, due to research being conducted at the Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Case Western...

A team of scientists from North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Laser Zentrum Hannover have discovered that a naturally-occurring compound called riboflavin, which is better known as vitamin B2, can be incorporated into 3D printing processes to...

While most artificial feet and limbs work well to restore mobility to people who have lost a leg, few provide a natural gait. As a result, more than half of all amputees suffer a fall every year, compared to about one-third of people over age 65. To find a better way of restoring natural motion to artificial...

New research at the University of Chicago is laying the groundwork for touch-sensitive prosthetic limbs that one day could convey real-time sensory information to amputees via a direct interface with the brain.

A team of scientists at the University of Texas at Arlington used mathematical modeling to develop a computer simulation that they hope will one day improve the treatment of dangerous reactions to medical implants such as stents, catheters, and artificial joints.

The silk of the venomous brown recluse spider could be the key to creating new super-sticky films and wafer-thin electronics and sensors for medical implants that are highly compatible with the human body. So says a team of scientists from Oxford University, UK, and The College of William and Mary,...