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2024 Create the Future Design Contest: Medical Grand Prize Winner - NETrolyze

Learn more about the 2024 Create the Future Design Contest Medical Grand Prize Winner: NETrolyze, a Novel Immunotherapy for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

2024 Create the Future Design Contest: Medical Category Winner - A Smart Contact Lens for Glaucoma Management

Learn more about the 2024 Create the Future Design Contest Medical Category Winner: A Smart Contact Lens for Glaucoma Management.

Drug Delivery

November is national diabetes awareness month. What was the first so-called artificial pancreas approved for commercial use in the United States?

2024 Product of the Year

Voting for Medical Design Briefs’ 30th Annual Readers’ Choice Product of the Year Awards is now closed.

Implantable Device Prevents Death from Opioid Overdose

Researchers have developed a device that may rescue people from overdose without bystander help. In animal studies, the researchers found that the implantable device detects an...

Hydrogel Implant Treats Endometriosis

Researchers have now developed the first hydrogel implant designed for use in fallopian tubes. This innovation performs two functions: one is to act as a contraceptive, the other is to prevent the recipient from developing endometriosis in the first place or to halt the spread if they do. Read on to learn more.

Bioink Mimics Human Skin

A new bioink has been designed for engineering human skin constructs using norbornene-pullulan-based hydrogels. The researchers introduced a novel photocrosslinkable bioink designed for engineering human skin constructs, based on thiol-norbornene-pullulan (N-PLN) formulations combined with various crosslinkers. Read on to learn more.

Implantable Miniature Brain-Machine Interface Offers Low Power Usage

Researchers at EPFL have developed the first high-performance, miniaturized brain-machine interface (MiBMI), offering an extremely small, low-power, highly accurate, and versatile solution. Read on to learn about it.

Videos of the Month

See the videos of the month, including one on advanced manufacturing processes; one on immune cells called regulatory T-cells; one on a bridge recombinase mechanism, a precise and powerful tool to recombine and rearrange DNA in a programmable way; and one on drug-loaded 3D printed films, which could change cancer treatments forever.

An Inside Look at Designing Drug-Delivery Pumps

A look at the unique drive assembly challenges that drug-delivery pumps present and how to mitigate those challenges.

Making Bandages from Artificial Spider Silk

Researchers have made their own version of fake spider silk, but this one consists of proteins and heals wounds instead of haunting hallways. The artificial silk is strong enough to be woven into...

Emerging Trends in Drug Delivery

A look at drug-delivery innovations that will shape the landscape and improve therapeutic outcomes for patients in the future.

Pens and Autoinjectors as Drug-Delivery Options

In the future of drug delivery, pens and autoinjectors will provide convenience, accuracy, and improved patient outcomes.

The Evolution of Precision Drug Delivery

A look at the transformative journey of drug-delivery devices, from traditional syringes to cutting-edge technologies, exploring the evolution of precision in administering medications for enhanced patient experience.

Material Improves Implantable Technology

Borophene is more conductive, thinner, lighter, stronger, and more flexible than graphene, the 2D version of carbon. Now, researchers have made the material potentially more useful by imparting chirality — or handedness — on it. Read on to learn what this could mean for advanced sensors and implantable medical devices.

Implant Powers Healing after Spinal Cord Injury

A research team has developed a new implant that conveys electrical signals and may have the potential to encourage nerve cell repair after spinal cord injury. Read on to learn more.

Improved Microneedle Technology

An improved technique uses a single microneedle to get enough fluid for a test in about 10 minutes. The microneedles penetrate the outer skin layer, but they don’t reach nerve endings and are hollow. Read on to learn more.

Drug Delivery

What drug-delivery device was introduced in 1979 to provide a controlled release of medication into the patient?

Dissolvable Microneedle Patch Enables Local Delivery of Immunomodulatory Microparticles

A team searched for small molecules as drug candidates and identified a bifunctional antibiotic, azithromycin (AZM), that not only inhibits bacterial...

Game-Changing Needle-Free COVID-19 Intranasal Vaccine

A next-generation COVID-19 mucosal vaccine is set to be a gamechanger not only when delivering the vaccine itself, but also for people who are needle-phobic. New research has been...

3D Printed Microneedle Technology Transforms Remote Healthcare

A revolutionary system combines remote health monitoring and drug delivery using 3D-printed hollow microneedles. This innovative approach promises to transform healthcare...

Creating a Safe Path to Sustainability in Drug Delivery

The environmental impact of the healthcare industry has been widely reported, with estimates it is responsible for around 4–5 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions.1 As...

Biohybrid Robotic Hand Improves Touch

Researchers have developed a novel biohybrid neuroprosthetic research platform comprised of a dexterous artificial hand electrically interfaced with biological neural networks. Read on to learn more about it.

Videos of the Month

See the videos of the month, including one on a first-in-class medication that targets specific genetic mutations implicated in many types of cancer; one on new, scalable methods of developing battery- and solar-powered fibers; one on a nanofiber-based biodegradable millirobot, called Fibot, that can move in the intestines and degrade in response to the pH of its environment; and one on a new avenue in the attack against influenza viruses.

Tendon Healing: Nanoparticles for Precision Drug Delivery

Researchers at the University of Rochester and University of Oregon combined their expertise in tendon cell biology and drug-delivery systems to find a better way to deliver therapies that can reduce scar tissue and facilitate improved healing. Read on to learn what they found.

Microneedle Patch Reverses Alopecia Hair Loss

A novel treatment approach holds promise for painlessly delivering immune regulators to affected areas of the skin, promoting hair regrowth caused by alopecia areata.

The Landscape of 3D Printing in Healthcare

The ethical implications of integrating robots into healthcare, discussing topics such as patient trust, privacy concerns, and the balance between human and robotic interaction in caregiving.

Soft Implantable Polymer Balloon Enables Controlled and Targeted Drug Delivery

In a paper published in Biomaterials Research, a team led by researchers from the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology present data on their nonbiodegradable, ultrasoft, and flexible balloon implant for drug delivery. Their findings demonstrate the balloon’s effectiveness in delivering a model drug both in the laboratory setting and in animal models. Read on to learn more.

From the Editor - FDA Releases Draft Guidance for Drug-Delivery Devices

At the end of June, FDA released a draft guidance that is designed to facilitate and streamline development of stand-alone devices and combination products by improving the consistency of drug-delivery performance information included in applications and submissions. Read on to learn more about it.