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A plastic skin-like material created by Stanford University detects pressure and delivers a Morse code-like signal directly to a living brain cell. The development could add a sense of touch to prosthetic limbs.

Cornell University researchers have developed a lightweight, stretchable material that has potential for use in prosthetic body parts, artificial organs, and soft robotics. Air and liquid can be pumped through connected pores, allowing the material to change its length by up to 300 percent.

A new surface coating developed by researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences make steel stronger, safer, and more durable. The new anti-corrosive and anti-fouling surface material, made from rough nanoporous tungsten oxide, repels any kind of liquid, even after...

Inspired by both nature and biology, a Florida Atlantic University scientist has built a lifelike robotic finger. The design required shape memory alloy (SMA), a three-dimensional CAD model of a human finger, a 3D printer, and a unique thermal training technique.

Biomedical engineering researchers at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have built software that allows powered prosthetics to tune themselves automatically. The development lowers costs and makes the devices more functionally useful.

Researchers at the University of Southern California and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have developed a brain prosthesis that is designed to help individuals suffering from memory loss. The prosthesis includes a small array of electrodes implanted into the brain.

VeloX, a prosthetic heart valve developed by National University of Singapore researchers, can be implanted through a small incision for the treatment of a serious heart valve disorder called mitral regurgitation. The device is particularly beneficial to patients who are of high surgical risk or are...

Nerve damage is often permanent, and according to the Mayo clinic, regrowth of nerves is very rare. A 3D-printed guide built by University of Minnesota researchers regrows both the sensory and motor functions of complex nerves after injury.

Inspired by a naturally occurring material found in marine mussels, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have created a new flame retardant to replace toxic commercial additives. The engineers' use of synthetic polydopamaine could prove valuable for a number of health-related applications,...

An implant built by Stanford University engineers produces light to stimulate nerves of the brain, spinal cord, or limbs in mice. The technology is powered wirelessly, using the mouse's own body to transfer energy. Scientists will use the new optogenetic nerve stimulation methods to investigate a...

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology designed a low-cost prosthetic knee that mimics normal walking motion. The MIT team's prototype generates a torque profile similar to that of able-bodied knees, using only simple mechanical elements like springs and dampers. The team is testing...

A new technology developed at Duke University uses metamaterials and compressive sensing to determine the direction of a sound and extract it from the surrounding background noise. Once miniaturized, the device could have applications in hearing aids, cochlear implants, and ultrasound medical sensors.

University of Texas at Dallas researchers have made electrically conducting fibers that can be reversibly stretched to over 14 times their initial length. Electrical conductivity of the fibers increases 200-fold when stretched.

In a collaboration between the Melbourne-based medical device company Anatomics and Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), a cancer patient diagnosed with a chest wall sarcoma received a 3D-printed titanium sternum and rib implants.

Researchers at the University of Houston have discovered a transparent conductor that can be folded or stretched and released, resulting in a large curvature or a significant strain, at least 10,000 times without showing signs of fatigue. The technology pairs gold nanomesh with a...

A new research robot from Uppsala University engineers finds optimal treatment combinations for cancer treatments. The robotic system plans and conducts experiments with many substances, and draws its own conclusions from the results, according to Dr Claes Andersson, leading scientist in the...

A 28-year-old who has been paralyzed for more than a decade has become the first person to be able to “feel” physical sensations through a prosthetic hand directly connected to his brain, and even identify which mechanical finger is being gently touched.

A team of Johns Hopkins University scientists discovered that noninvasive brain stimulation temporarily improves motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). The Johns Hopkins study also revealed that people with Parkinson's disease are still capable of making quick,...

A “robotic exoskeleton” device developed by UCLA scientists allowed a paralyzed man to voluntarily control his leg muscles and take thousands of steps. In addition to the robotic device, the man was aided by a novel noninvasive spinal stimulation technique that does not require...

A mold developed by Cornell University researchers can shape liquid silicon out of organic polymer materials. The self-assembling organic polymers create a template dotted with precisely sized and shaped nanopores. The development could lead to exact single-crystal silicon nanostructures.

Researchers from Penn State University have worked with University of Texas at Dallas engineers to induce different two-dimensional materials to form directly on top of one another. The stacking approach achieves clean interfaces between layers — an important factor for novel nanoelectronic circuits.

A “smart insulin patch” created by researchers at the University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University detects increases in blood sugar levels and secretes doses of insulin into the bloodstream whenever needed.

By "crowdsurfing" motor proteins and using a succession of biological mechanisms, Sandia National Laboratories researchers have created linkages of polymer nanotubes that resemble the structure of a nerve, with many out-thrust filaments poised to gather or send electrical impulses. The...

A University of Houston engineer has received funding to create a pediatric exoskeleton, designed to help children with spinal cord injuries and other mobility disorders. The exoskeletons will be customized to grow as the child grows.

Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed an elastic patch that, when applied to the skin and stretched, delivers medicine. The patch releases the drugs as the elbow bends.