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Researchers from MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital have developed a small, implantable device that delivers chemotherapy drugs directly to pancreatic tumors. Using mice, the team determined that the implant approach was up to 12 times more effective than the common method of delivering chemotherapy...

Engineers at Arizona State University (ASU), Tempe, have created an edible supercapacitor that, they say, can wipe out E. coli or power a camera from inside the body. Using edible foodstuffs like activated charcoal, gold leaf, seaweed, egg white, cheese, gelatin, and barbecue sauce, which can store...

A "kidney on a chip" device from University of Michigan researchers mimics the flow of medication through human kidneys and measures its effect on kidney cells. The new technique supports more precise dosing of drugs, including some potentially toxic medicines often delivered in intensive care units.

Vanderbilt University researchers have created an implantable artificial kidney that is powered by a patient's own heart. The bio-hybrid device uses living kidney cells and microchip filters to keep a patient off dialysis and remove waste products, salt, and water.

A mind-controlled prosthetic arm developed by Johns Hopkins researchers allows wearers to move individual digits independently of each other. The proof-of-concept device represents an advance in technologies to restore refined hand function to those who have lost arms to injury or disease, say the...

University of Rochester researchers created a material that undergoes a shape change when triggered by body heat alone. The shape-memory polymer can be programmed to retain a temporary form and then revert back to its original structure.

Researchers at the Technological Institute of Energy, Valencia, Spain, are working to create a bio-battery that uses blood glucose to produce energy. Such a battery, they say, would cut down on the number of surgical interventions a pacemaker user must undergo.

A team of researchers from the University of New Mexico, Duke University, and the University of Florida say that they have uncovered a new technique to trap, kill, and release bacteria from a surface, such as bacterial growth on a urinary catheter. They explained that they used cationic polymers and...

A team at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) has characterized a fundamental origami fold, or tessellation, that could be used as a building block for medical devices. The folding pattern, known as the Miura-ori, can be packed into a flat, compact...

A team at University of California, Santa Barbara created a device that simulates the forces felt by the hand when touching an object. Information from the UCSB study will be used to provide prosthetic hand wearers with more natural touch feedback and a greater range of functionality.

When children are born with a missing heart ventricle, doctors can perform a Fontan surgical procedure; the operation creates a passive circulation network to replace the blood pumping function. Inefficiency in circulation, however, often increases over time. A heart pump motor, using NASA Glenn Research...

Researchers at University of Toronto Engineering have developed a platform for growing realistic human heart and liver tissue outside the body. The AngioChip could help drug companies discover and prevent negative side effects.