Nanogenerators for Monitoring Heart Health

A team of researchers has developed self-powered, wearable, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based contact layers for monitoring cardiovascular health. TENGs help conserve mechanical energy and turn it into power. Read on to learn more.

Sensors for ‘Smart’ Wound Bandage Track Healing, Immune Response

Researchers from Skoltech and the University of Texas at Austin have presented a proof-of-concept for a wearable sensor that can track healing in sores, ulcers, and other kinds of chronic skin wounds, even without the need to remove the bandages. Read on to learn more.

How a Standardized Platform Delivered Precision Motion Control

To upgrade its existing line of laboratory and high-speed production equipment, Genesis called on Moxley Electronics, a trusted distributor of automation components from Mitsubishi Electric. Read on to learn what happened.

New Wearable Communication System Can Transmit Data Farther than Wi-Fi

A group of University of Arizona researchers has developed a wearable monitoring device system that can send health data up to 15 miles without any significant infrastructure. Their device, they hope, will help make digital health access more equitable. Read on to learn more.

5Ws of the Smart Mask

Caltech engineers have developed a prototype for a high-tech paper mask that can be used to monitor a range of metabolic and respiratory conditions.

Rising Star Award Winner 2024: Medical

Oonagh Hassett, Program Manager, Symphysis Medical from Galway, Ireland, is the 2024 Rising Star Award Winner for Medical.

Rising Star Award Winner 2024: Medical

Dr. Asha Parekh, CEO and Co-Founder, Front Line Medical Technologies from Ontario, Canada, is the 2024 Rising Star Award Winner for Medical.

Smaller Skin-Like Stretchable Electronics for Wearables

Researchers at Stanford have been working on skin-like, stretchable electronic devices for over a decade. Recently, they presented a new design and fabrication process for skin-like integrated circuits that are five times smaller and operate at one thousand times higher speeds than earlier versions. Read on to learn more about it.

Rapidly Testing Stretchable Sensors

Engineers have developed a new technique for making wearable sensors that enables medical researchers to prototype and test new designs much faster and at a far lower cost than existing methods. Read on to learn more.

3D-Printing Flexible Devices without Mechanical Joints

Eva Baur, a Ph.D. student, used 3D-printed double network granular elastomers (DNGEs) to print a prototype ‘finger,’ complete with rigid ‘bones’ surrounded by flexible ‘flesh.’ The finger was printed to deform in a pre-defined way, demonstrating the technology’s potential to manufacture devices that are sufficiently supple to bend and stretch, while remaining firm enough to manipulate objects. Read on to learn more.

Low-Voltage, Low-Power Pressure Sensors for Monitoring Health

Researchers have found ways to develop soft OECTs for wearable pressure sensors. They first experimented with a solid type of gating substance: a charged, gelatinous substance called an ionic hydrogel. Read on to learn more.

Powering the Wireless Arthroscopic Camera

The first FDA-cleared wireless arthroscopic camera for minimally invasive knee surgeries and other orthopedic procedures got early support from NASA.

Sensor Measures Light, Heat, and Touch

Researchers have developed a sensor that, similar to human skin, can sense temperature variation that originates from the touch of a warm object as well as the heat from solar radiation. The sensor combines pyroelectric and thermoelectric effects with a nano-optical phenomenon.

New Patch Can Help Control Robotic Exoskeletons

In a new study, engineers from Korea and the United States have developed a wearable, stretchy patch that could help to bridge the divide between people and machines — and with benefits for the health of humans around the world. In lab experiments, the researchers showed that humans could use these devices to operate robotic exoskeletons more efficiently.

Microneedle Technology Leads to Painless Tattoos

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed low-cost, painless, and bloodless tattoos that can be self-administered and have many applications, from medical alerts to tracking neutered animals to cosmetics.

Smart Soft Sensor Improves Human-Robot Interaction

A new soft sensor developed by UBC and Honda researchers opens the door to a wide range of applications in robotics and prosthetics. When applied to the surface of a prosthetic arm or a robotic limb, the sensor skin provides touch sensitivity and dexterity, enabling tasks that can be difficult for machines such as picking up a piece of soft fruit.

Wireless Networking Expanding the Reach of Healthcare

Devices to remotely monitor patients’ health have been around for more than 20 years, but their use is rapidly expanding now. As networking technologies such as LoRaWAN are maturing, and artificial intelligence is being embedded in “smart” sensors, the medical device industry is motivated to take advantage.

An AI-Enabled Soft Robotic Implant Monitors Scar Tissue

Research teams at University of Galway and MIT have detailed a new breakthrough in medical device technology that could lead to intelligent, long-lasting, tailored treatment for patients thanks to soft robotics and artificial intelligence.

Sensors Quickly Spot Coronavirus Proteins and Antibodies

Scientists have created a new way to detect the proteins that make up the pandemic coronavirus as well as antibodies against it. They designed protein-based biosensors that glow when mixed with components of the virus or specific COVID-19 antibodies.

Self-Sensing Electric Artificial Muscles

Taking inspiration from nature, a team of researchers at Queen Mary’s School of Engineering and Materials Science has successfully created an artificial muscle that seamlessly transitions between soft and hard states while also possessing the remarkable ability to sense forces and deformations.

Advancing Battery Technology: The 2023 Battery Show Preview

The largest battery and electric vehicle technologies trade show in North America.

Building a Better Prosthetic to Restore Mobility for Amputees

Prosthetic technology has seen incredible advancements over the past three decades, but the socket, one of the device’s most important parts, has remained relatively unchanged.

Implantable Chip Uses Machine Learning to Detect Neural Disease

Boasting a 256-channel high-resolution sensing array and an energy-efficient machine learning processor, NeuralTree can extract and classify a broad set of biomarkers from real patient data and animal models of disease in-vivo.

5Ws of a Smart Bandage

A new kind of smart bandage developed at Caltech may make treatment of chronic wounds easier, more effective, and less expensive.

Inflatable, Shape-Changing Spinal Implants Could Help Treat Severe Pain

The device uses soft robotics, ultra-thin electronics, and microfluidics.

3D-Printed Prostheses — Accessible and Affordable

This is a new process for the 3D printing of complete one-piece structurally sound prosthetic limbs.

Flexible Sensor for Robotic Sensing and Health Monitoring

Real-time health monitoring and sensing abilities of robots require soft electronics but a challenge of using such materials lies in their reliability.

Standalone Sweat Sensor Provides Immediate Results

Engineers have developed a thin, flexible, stretchy sweat sensor that can show the level of glucose, lactate, sodium, or pH of your sweat — at the press of a finger.

Stretchable Pressure Sensor Could Lead to Better Robotics, Prosthetics

The sensor can be stretched up to 50 percent with almost the same sensing performance.