Topic

Custom Brakes Meet the Challenges of Gearless Motor Elevators

A manufacturer of low and high-rise elevators faced a challenge when customers began calling for a flexible elevator to meet the needs of the growing mid-rise, mixed-use building...

Reducing Inaccuracies in Force/Haptic Feedback Systems

Researchers at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center have developed a new technology to reduce inaccuracies in force/haptic feedback devices and systems. Used at NASA in aircraft...

Exo-Brake Enables Safe Return for Small Spacecraft

Microgel Composite Could Overcome Fibrin Blockade to Accelerate Healing

In regenerative medicine, the ideal repair material would offer properties that seem impossibly contradictory. It must be rigid and robust enough to be manipulated...

Bionic Pancreas Passes Critical Science Hurdle

On the heels of winning $12 million in supplemental funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct a major, multicenter, national clinical trial of his iLet™ bionic pancreas,...

Advanced Tactile Sensors Drive the Next Generation of Blood Pressure Devices

Hypertension (high blood pressure) is the number one risk factor for premature death worldwide, affecting 70 million American adults (one out of three). Day-to-day...

Knitted Stent Unravels for Complete Removal from Patient

Stents are cylindrical mesh tubes that can be placed in arteries or in the lungs to open blockages or areas that are narrow or weak. Traditional stents work well, but one disadvantage is...

Draw-Tower Gratings in Multicore Fiber: A Paradigm Shift in Curvature Sensing

Fiber-optic curvature sensing has great potential for a number of medical and industrial applications because alternative solutions are practically nonexistent, at...

Lasers: The Perfect Tool for Industry 4.0

With the advent of Industry 4.0, digital manufacturing promises speed, directness, and flexibility — so it needs a tool that meets those demands. Fortunately, the right technology has been evolving...

Wearable Sensors Created from Biocompatible Hydrogel

Engineers and biologists at MIT have teamed up to design a new “living material” — a tough, stretchy, biocompatible sheet of hydrogel injected with live cells that are genetically...

Paper-Based Virus Diagnostic Can Be Easily Administered

Fear of the Zika virus is spreading as images of afflicted infants fill the news. Hoping to foil Zika's rapid advance, researchers from the Wyss Institute in Boston, along with colleagues...

Engineers Create Artificial Skin That ‘Feels’ Temperature Changes

A team of engineers and scientists have developed an artificial skin capable of detecting temperature changes using a mechanism similar to the one used by the organ that...

Sonic Cyber Attack Shows Security Holes in Ubiquitous Sensors

Sound waves could be used to hack into critical sensors in a broad array of technologies including medical devices, smart-phones, automobiles, and the Internet of Things, University...

Industry 4.0: Virtual Twin Controls Production

Efficient production control is a key industrial technology. The notion of building up two parallel factories instead of one may sound like nothing but doubling of effort. But what if one of the...

Living Polymerization Enables Adaptable 3D Printing

Three-dimensional printing technology makes it possible to rapidly manufacture objects by depositing layer upon layer of polymers in a precisely determined pattern. Once these objects are...

Plastic Welding Technologies for Medical Device Design and Assembly

The structures of most medical devices are far too complex to mold as a single piece. Therefore, it is necessary to assemble their components into a finished product. While...

Open Core Engineering: New Freedom for Machine Automation Programming

The increasing sophistication and complexity of medical devices is compounded by strict regulatory requirements that demand systems that can produce consistent, repeatable...

Additive Manufacturing Revolutionizes Medical Device Production

For years, the medical device industry has been leading the adoption of additive manufacturing. With the evolution of high-precision printers that span a large offering of...

Plasma-Applied Silicone Coatings for the Next Generation of Medical Devices

For many medical device manufacturers, the application of proprietary coatings and surface treatments can play a critical role in differentiating their products as they...

Adhesives with Additives: Dressings Designed to Deliver Added Value

Multipurpose functionality has become an expectation in the modern lifestyle. A washing machine is no longer just a washing machine but rather a computerized appliance that can...

Aircraft Configured for Flight in an Atmosphere Having Low Density

NASA Langley Research Center researchers have developed an airplane capable of being stowed in a confined volume and deployed in a high-altitude environment for...

Past as Prelude to the Future

Engineers who have done patent searches know there’s truth in the old saying: Few things are truly new under the sun. First hybrid-electric car? 1899. First autonomous car tests? 1920s. First car with a...

BiBlade Sampling Chain

The BiBlade sampler has been developed for potentially acquiring samples from the surface of a planetary body. The tool could conceivably be used in both in situ and notional sample return missions to planetary bodies...

Connectivity Continues Its Advance

Fleet owners have been deploying telematic solutions for some time, but connectivity still is just beginning to move from early adopters to the mass market. Connectivity is providing more owners and...

Tailoring Fuel Injection to Control NOx

Future diesel engine legislation, such as the EU’s Stage V and possible Tier 5 in the U.S. for off-highway, demand further improvements to reduce CO2 while keeping the already-low NOx emissions...

Refining Ride Quality at Lower Cost

Achieving product differentiation without adding significant cost is on the wish list of all automakers.