Health, Medicine, & Biotechnology

A Face Mask to Detect Kidney Disease

Surgical face masks help prevent the spread of airborne pathogens and therefore were ubiquitous during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, a modified mask could also protect a wearer by detecting health conditions, including chronic kidney disease. Researchers reporting in ACS Sensors incorporated a specialized breath sensor within the fabric of a face mask to detect metabolites associated with the disease. Read on to learn more.

Grain-of-Salt-Sized Neural Implant

Researchers at Cornell University, working with collaborators, have created an extremely small neural implant that can sit on a grain of salt. Despite its size, the device can wirelessly transmit brain activity data from a living animal for more than a year. Read on to learn more.

A Biocompatible Sensor Implant to Monitor Neurological Functions

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, and New York’s Columbia University have embedded transistors in a soft, conformable material to create a biocompatible sensor implant that monitors neurological functions through successive phases of a patient’s development. Read on to learn more.

Sweat-Powered Wearable Akin to Wearing a Band-Aid

A sweat-powered wearable has the potential to make continuous, personalized health monitoring as effortless as wearing a Band-Aid. Read on to learn more.

How Smart Implants and AI Robotics Could Transform Neurological Surgery

Smart implants and AI-enhanced robotics will improve surgical precision and generate actionable data.

How Tissue-Based Approaches Are Enabling Long-Term Implants

A new category of medical devices on the horizon integrates with and leverages the body’s own tissue.

Ultrasound as a New Wireless Power Transfer Technology

A research team led by Dr. Sunghoon Hur of the Electronic and Hybrid Materials Research Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology and Professor Hyun-Cheol Song of Korea University has developed a biocompatible ultrasonic receiver that maintains its performance even when bent. Read on to learn more.

Celebrate 50 Years of Tech Briefs: Share Your Story

Thank you to everyone who shared their Tech Briefs story. We are no longer accepting submissions. Watch for featured stories in our September issue.  

Training the Future of AI-Powered Surgery

The convergence of AI, extended reality (XR), and immersive simulation is shaping the future of surgical systems.

Next-Generation Robotic System Aims to Redefine Endoscopic Procedures

The BIRTH lab is giving endoscopists a second hand: One hand is the scope, and the second hand is for manipulating the tissue.

Making Human-Centered Robotics Work in the Real World

Learn how human-centered robotic systems are deployed at scale, with lessons from cobots in industrial environments.

Bubble Bots: Simple Biocompatible Microrobots Autonomously Target Tumors

The potential of microrobots is enormous. These miniature objects can be designed to carry out actions within the body, such as sensing biomarkers, manipulating...

A Neural Blueprint for Human-Like Intelligence in Soft Robots

A new artificial intelligence control system enables soft robotic arms to learn a wide repertoire of motions and tasks once, then adjust to new scenarios on the fly, without...

The Hidden Nervous System of Surgical Robotics: Power, Data & Sensing Behind Precision Performance

Advances in interconnect density, force sensing, and system integration are shaping the future of surgical and assistive robotics.

Surgical & Assistive Robotics: Redefining Human Capability

Devices paired with adaptive machine learning are helping stroke and spinal cord injury patients regain movement.

A Smart Sensor for Better Monitoring

A major challenge in self-powered wearable sensors for health care monitoring is distinguishing different signals when they occur at the same time. Researchers from Penn State and China’s Hebei University of Technology addressed this issue by uncovering a new property of a sensor material, enabling the team to develop a new type of flexible sensor that can accurately measure both temperature and physical strain simultaneously but separately to more precisely pinpoint various signals.

This AI Can Predict Future X-Rays

An AI system that can predict what a patient’s knee X-ray will look like a year in the future could transform how millions of people with osteoarthritis understand and manage their condition, according to research by the University of Surrey.