Implants & Prosthetics

Classic tissue engineering utilizes absorbable non-woven biomedical textiles from a variety of fibers to aid in cell growth and proliferation, and medical device companies rely on these materials for implantable devices that must degrade over time. Non-woven bio-textiles such as SCAFTEX® and...

A newly developed self-assembling polymer film that bends and stretches when hit by light is pointing the way to a new family of functional materials. This flexing film is the first material to have been made by coaxing complex molecules to form large-scale, highly ordered 3D arrays...

This technology provides isolated polynucleotides comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a mature thermophillic hydrophobin polypeptide suitable for a recombinant DNA technology production process. This compound self-assembles at interfaces and is applicable to a broad variety of surfaces....

Any signal can be decomposed into components of sinusoids. This pioneer technique expands the theory of interchangeability of phase and a shift of time (or a shift of another variable). It faithfully preserves phase information by mathematically rearranging the signal’s...

Engineers at UC Berkeley have developed a pressure-sensitive electronic material from semiconductor nanowires. The material functions like human skin, incorporating the ability to feel and touch objects, said Ali Javey, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences and head of the UC Berkeley...

When undergoing medical treatment, physicians frequently determine that a patient's vital signs — such as blood pressure and heart rate — need to be closely monitored. For most patients today, this means a variety of wires and sensors will be attached to their bodies. But thanks to technology developed at NASA,...

Implanted medical devices such as glucose-level sensors, pacemakers, catheters, and others add quality of life, deliver lifesaving medicine, or protect the lives of patients who need them - but those same devices are at risk from the patients themselves. "One of the biggest problems with...

A ceramic body consisting of the phases of tricalcium phosphate and/or hydroxyapatite provides biocompatibility with hard tissues. When such a ceramic body is implanted in a bone, direct connection is formed between the bone and the ceramic body without intervention of any fibrous...

Researchers from Northwestern University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Pennsylvania are the first to demonstrate a flexible silicon electronics device used for a medical application. The device produced high-density maps of a beating heart's electrical activity, providing a potential...

A "metal foam" developed by North Carolina State University researchers could mean a new generation of biomedical implants that would avoid bone rejection that often results from more rigid implant materials, such as titanium. The metal foam is lighter than solid aluminum and can be made...

University of Michigan engineers have developed an artificial foot that recycles energy otherwise wasted in between steps, which could make it easier for amputees to walk. A typical prosthesis doesn't reproduce the force a living ankle exerts to push off of the ground. As a result, test subjects...