Health, Medicine, & Biotechnology

DNA Origami Nanoturbine Sets New Horizon for Nanomotors

Flow-driven turbines lie at the heart of many machines that have shaped our societies, from windmills to airplanes. Even life itself depends critically on turbines for fundamental...

Engineering a Safer Football Helmet

In the winter of 2019, the National Football League hosted its Helmet Challenge Symposium in Youngstown, OH, bringing together 300 engineers, manufacturing experts, and innovators from across the country.

Top Prizes Awarded in 2023 Create the Future Design Contest

NeuroPair’s Fibermag treatment — which aims to help patients of Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) recover — took home the distinguished honor on Friday, November 10 in the heart of New York City.

Robotic Ankles Stabilize Amputees

Robotic prosthetic ankles that are controlled by nerve impulses allow amputees to move more “naturally,” improving their stability.

Wearable Device Makes Memories and Powers Up with The Flex of a Finger

Researchers have invented an experimental wearable device that generates power from a user’s bending finger and can create and store memories, in a promising step...

Choosing Exoskeleton Settings like a Music-Streaming App

Taking inspiration from music-streaming services, engineers have designed the simplest way for users to program their own exoskeleton assistance settings.

VR Therapy Aims to Help Those with Hoarding Disorder

Virtual reality therapy could allow those with hoarding disorder to rehearse relinquishing possessions in a simulation of their own home, which could help them declutter in real life.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including NASA Ames Research Center's artificial gravity modules, the Compliant Legged Articulated Robotic Insect, and injection-free diabetes control.

Laser-based System Achieves Noncontact Medical Ultrasound Imaging

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).

2023 Create the Future Design Contest

The Create the Future Design Contest, launched in 2002 by SAE Media Group, recognizes and rewards engineering innovations that benefit humanity, the environment, and the economy. The annual contest draws product designs from engineers, students, and entrepreneurs worldwide.

2023 Create the Future Design Contest: Medical Finalist

See the 2023 Create the Future Design Contest's Medical Finalist: NeuroPair's new treatment approach for spinal cord injury.

An Ingestible Sensor for Diagnosing GI Motility Disorders

Engineers have demonstrated an ingestible sensor whose location can be monitored as it moves through the digestive tract, an advance that could help doctors more easily diagnose gastrointestinal motility disorders such as constipation, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and gastroparesis.

Plant-Based Soft Robots Take on the Medical Industry

Researchers have created smart, advanced materials that will be the building blocks for a future generation of soft medical microrobots.

Robotic Prosthetic Ankles Improve ‘Natural’ Movement, Stability

Robotic prosthetic ankles that are controlled by nerve impulses allow amputees to move more “naturally,” improving their stability, according to a new study from North...

The Next Frontier in Neurology

A new technology offers a minimally invasive option for neurology while improving patient outcomes.

My Opinion: Engineers Can Help Solve Social Problems

This past year’s Technology and Society articles in Tech Briefs magazine describe different ways engineers are making significant contributions to improving our lives.

New Wearable Sensor Makes Continuous Analysis of Sweat Possible

Continuous monitoring of sweat can reveal valuable information about human health, such as the body’s glucose levels. However, wearable sensors previously developed for this...

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.

Silicon Nose: Small Sensor ‘Smells’ Incipient Seizures

In people with epilepsy, seizure-alert dogs can smell small changes in body chemistry and warn of an impending seizure an hour or more before it occurs. Inspired by this feat of nature, a team of researchers has developed a way to replicate that ability with technology.

New Technology Offers Better Diagnosis of Dizziness

The vibrating device uses bone-conducted sounds to achieve better results.

Micro-Device Detects Bacteria and Viruses

Researchers were able to successfully isolate bacteria from various fluids with a microparticle-based matrix filter. The filter trapped particles in small voids in the device, providing a larger concentration of bacteria for analysis.

Air Monitor Can Detect COVID-19 Variants in Five Minutes

By combining recent advances in aerosol sampling technology and an ultrasensitive biosensing technique, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have created a real-time monitor that can detect any of the SARS-CoV-2 virus variants in a room in about five minutes.

Tiny Implantable Tool for Light-Sheet Imaging of Brain Activity

The tool shows promise for imaging brain activity in 3D with high speed and contrast.

Human Tissue-Like Cellular Assemblies Grown for Respiratory Studies

NASA researchers have developed a technology that yields 3D tissue-like assemblies of human broncho-epithelial cells for in vitro research on infection of humans by respiratory viruses.

Going the Distance for Better Wireless Charging

Accounting for radiation loss is the key to efficient wireless power transfer over long distances. Aalto University engineers have optimized the way antennas transmitting and receiving power...

New Material Will Burn Viruses, Not Skin

A new material uses Joule heating to decontaminate its surface of coronaviruses like SARS-CoV-2 in under 5 seconds, effectively killing at least 99.9 percent of viruses.

Medtech’s New Normal

Medtech companies must adapt to a landscape that is now data-centric systems vs. equipment-centric.