Human Factors and Ergonomics

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Briefs: Energy
A silicone membrane for wearable devices is more comfortable and breathable thanks to better-sized pores made with the help of citric acid crystals. The new preparation technique fabricates thin, silicone-based patches that rapidly wick water away from the skin. The technique could reduce the redness and itching caused by wearable biosensors that trap sweat beneath them. Read on to learn more.
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Briefs: Materials
A flexible and stretchable cell has been developed for wearable electronic devices that require a reliable and efficient energy source that can easily be integrated into the human body. Read on to learn more about it.
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5 Ws: Medical
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.
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Application Briefs: Internet of Things
Moving forward, the lines between PLCs, edge devices, and cloud systems will continue to blur. The most successful manufacturers will be those who can seamlessly integrate these technologies, creating a unified system that’s greater than the sum of its parts. Read on to learn more.
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Application Briefs: Wearables
With the new Smart Connected Sensors platform from Bosch Sensortec, you can track more than just steps. You can program complex whole-body movements and accurately track them during physical workouts or while you are going through a rehabilitation or physical therapy regimen. Read on to learn more.
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Briefs: Test & Measurement
A new coronavirus test can get accurate results from a saliva sample in less than 30 minutes. Many of the components of the handheld device used in this technology can be 3D printed, and the test can detect as little as one viral particle per 1-μL drop of fluid. Read on to learn more.
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Briefs: Materials
University of Waterloo Chemical Engineering Researcher Dr. Elisabeth Prince teamed up with researchers from the University of Toronto and Duke University to design the synthetic material made using cellulose nanocrystals, which are derived from wood pulp. The material is engineered to replicate the fibrous nanostructures and properties of human tissues. Read on to learn more.
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Articles: Physical Sciences
Optics are used in a vast range of applications in virtually every sector of human endeavor, from scientific microscopes to medical diagnostic imaging, from automobile headlights to telescopes pointed at the stars. Read on to learn about their advances.
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Briefs: AR/AI
A new groundbreaking “smart glove” is capable of tracking the hand and finger movements of stroke victims during rehabilitation exercises. The glove incorporates a sophisticated network of highly sensitive sensor yarns and pressure sensors that are woven into a comfortable stretchy fabric. Read on to learn more about the smart glove.
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Briefs: Imaging
The camera mimics the involuntary movements of the human eye to create sharper, more accurate images for robots, smartphones, and other image-capturing devices. Read on to learn more about it.
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Briefs: AR/AI
A research team created a noninvasive electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor that was installed in a Meta VR headset that can be worn comfortably for long periods. The EEG measures the brain’s electrical activity during the immersive VR interactions. Read on to learn more.
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Researchers have found a way to bind engineered skin tissue to the complex forms of humanoid robots. This brings with it potential benefits to robotic platforms such as increased mobility, self-healing abilities, embedded sensing capabilities and an increasingly lifelike appearance.
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Briefs: Design
A team has developed a new cable system for heart pumps that doesn’t cause infections. This is particularly important given that wireless methods of transmitting power remain unavailable to patients in the foreseeable future.
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Briefs: Software
A promising way to study disease and test new drugs is to use cellular and engineered tissue models in a dish, but existing methods to study heart cell contraction and calcium handling require a good deal of manual work, are prone to errors, and need expensive specialized equipment. Researchers at Columbia Engineering unveiled a groundbreaking new tool today that addresses these challenges head-on: BeatProfiler.
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Briefs: Energy
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.
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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
An international team of researchers from Japan and Austria has invented new ultraflexible patches with a ferroelectric polymer that can not only sense a patient’s pulse and blood pressure, but also power themselves from normal movements. The key was starting with a substrate just 1-μm thick.
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Briefs: Medical
The stent delivers regenerative stem cell-derived therapy to blood-starved tissue.
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5 Ws: IoMT
Rice University engineers have developed the smallest implantable brain stimulator demonstrated in a human patient that could revolutionize treatment for drug-resistant depression and other psychiatric or neurological disorders.
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Mimicking the easy, instantaneous image processing power of the human eye, Penn State electrical engineering researchers created a metasurface, an optical element akin to a glass slide that uses tiny nanostructures, placed at different angles to control light.
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
A research paper by scientists at the University of Coimbra proposed a soft robotic hand comprising soft actuator cores and an exoskeleton, featuring a multimaterial design aided by finite element analysis to define the hand geometry and promote finger’s bendability.
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Briefs: Design
Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center have developed a programmable steering wheel called the Tri-Rotor, which allows an astronaut the ability to easily operate a vehicle on the surface of a planet or Moon despite the limited dexterity of their spacesuit. This technology was originally conceived for the operation of a lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) to improve upon previous Apolloera hand controllers.
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Recognizing the need for in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) to support long-duration human missions to the Moon and Mars, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Sidus Space have developed a novel three-dimensional print head apparatus using regolith-polymer mixtures as a building material.
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Monitoring the success of surgery on blood vessels is challenging, as the first sign of trouble often comes too late. A new device could make it easier for doctors to monitor the success of blood vessel surgery.
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Briefs: Materials
A technique enables manufacturing of minuscule robots by interlocking multiple materials in a complex way.
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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
A first-of-its-kind robotic glove is lending a “hand” and providing hope to piano players who have suffered a disabling stroke. Developed by researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, the soft robotic hand exoskeleton uses artificial intelligence to improve hand dexterity.
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Briefs: Energy
A stretchable system that can harvest energy from human breathing and motion for use in wearable health-monitoring devices may be possible, according to an international team of researchers.
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Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
MIT researchers have developed a camera-based touch sensor that is long, curved, and shaped like a human finger. Their device provides high-resolution tactile sensing over a large area. The sensor, called the GelSight Svelte, uses two mirrors to reflect and refract light.
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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
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.
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Application Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Researchers from MIT Lincoln Laboratory and their collaborators at the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Ultrasound Research and Translation have developed a new medical imaging device: the Noncontact Laser Ultrasound (NCLUS).
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