Materials/​Biomaterials

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...

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have created a hydrogel that is more than 50 times stronger than comparable squishy self-healing materials. The hydrogel is made up of 95 percent water, making it suitable for applications in the body; it could someday serve as scaffolding for new...

Johns Hopkins University biomedical engineers, working with colleagues at Seoul National Laboratory in Korea, have produced a laboratory chip with nanoscopic grooves and ridges capable of growing cardiac tissue that more closely resembles natural heart muscle. The scientists say this chip could be used to design new...

This design of the liquid-cooling garment for NASA spacesuits allows the suit to remove metabolic heat from the human body more effectively, thereby increasing comfort and performance while reducing system mass. The garment is also more flexible, with fewer restrictions on...

Bayer MaterialScience (Pittsburgh, PA) has introduced a family of hydrophilic coatings that combine lubricity and hemocompatibility with the mechanical properties of polyurethane. They are used in medical devices such as guidewires, catheters, leads, and endoscopes. The coatings are custom-designed and are based on polyurethane...

Zeus (Orangeburg, SC) offers an electrospinning platform for the medical device and filtration industries. Electrospinning produces polymer fibers with thicknesses from the nano scale to the micro scale. Fabrics with complex shapes can be developed from solutions, pastes, and bioabsorbables. The electrospun polymer fibers...

A process for making monodisperse liposomes having lipid bilayer membranes involves fewer, simpler process steps than do related prior methods. First, a microfluidic, cross-junction droplet generator is used to produce vesicles comprising aqueous-solution droplets contained in single-layer lipid membranes. The...