FAU researchers develop an intelligent suit that recognizes movement intent. An intelligent suit is hoped to significantly improve rehabilitation after a serious spinal cord injury. The AI-supported solution will be developed over the next three years by researchers from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) working in collaboration with Heidelberg University and Heidelberg University Hospital. It combines electrical simulation of muscles with support for movement using artificial tendons, and reacts to patients’ intended movements. The German Research Foundation has provided a total of…
FAU researcher awarded 1.3 million euros for two medical engineering projects. Patients with limited hand function are soon set to benefit from an intelligent neuro-orthosis that will enable them to lead independent lives again. Prof. Dr. Alessandro Del Vecchio, a neuroscientist at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), is working on this aim in two new projects and has received over 1.3 million euros of funding from the Free State of Bavaria. The main focus of this research during the next three years…
… enters Phase II trials, with first patients dosed. After completing Phase 0 and Phase I human safety studies, INS018_055, Insilico’s AI-discovered and AI-generated drug, has entered multi-regional Phase II clinical trials in the U.S and China. The first human patients were administered the drug. This is a potentially first-in-class anti-fibrotic drug candidate that has reached clinical Phase II, and it is fully delivered by generative AI, with a novel AI-discovered target and a novel AI-generated molecular structure. Powered by…
MIT engineers’ new technology can probe the neural circuits that influence hunger, mood, and a variety of diseases. The brain and the digestive tract are in constant communication, relaying signals that help to control feeding and other behaviors. This extensive communication network also influences our mental state and has been implicated in many neurological disorders. MIT engineers have now designed a new technology that can be used to probe those connections. Using fibers embedded with a variety of sensors, as…
Platform combines structural details with molecular information about a tumor. At a glance: Researchers have developed a new tool that merges structural details with molecular information about tumors. The detailed information could enable pathologists to identify biological markers that better predict how patients will fare. The ultimate goal is to provide physicians with details that would improve cancer diagnosis and treatment. When it comes to diagnosing, staging, and assessing cancer, for more than a century pathologists have relied on…
The aim of proton radiation therapy in fighting cancer is to kill as many tumor cells as possible while also protecting the surrounding healthy tissue. As there is yet no direct method for mapping the beam range during dose delivery, physicians work with safety margins around the tumor that affect the conformity of dose distribution and reduce accurate targeting. Dresden scientists led by Prof. Aswin L. Hoffmann have succeeded in visualizing the proton beam’s trajectory in a fluid-filled phantom using…
Robot is made of metal and yet is soft and flexible. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart have developed a magnetically controlled soft medical robot with a unique, flexible structure inspired by the body of a pangolin. The robot is freely movable despite built-in hard metal components. Thus, depending on the magnetic field, it can adapt its shape to be able to move and can emit heat when needed, allowing for functionalities such as selective…
Researchers created a new and improved way to view the mechanics of life. There are various ways to image biological samples on a microscopic level, and each has its own pros and cons. For the first time, a team of researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo, has combined aspects from two of the leading imaging techniques to craft a new method of imaging and analyzing biological samples. Its concept, known as RESORT, paves the way to observe living…
A band-aid with sensor function. After surgery in the abdominal cavity, they are dreaded: leaks at the sutures where the contents of the digestive tract can sip into the abdomen. “Even today, such leaks are a life-threatening complication,” explains Inge Herrmann, researcher at Empa and professor of Nanoparticulate Systems at ETH Zurich. The idea of sealing sutured tissue in the abdominal cavity with a plaster has already arrived in operating rooms. The problem is that clinical success is not always…
Folate-based radiopharmaceuticals can be used in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to detect folate receptors in brain tumours. The discovery of folate receptors and their exploitation potential with respect to brain tumours is a new and significant finding in the field. The discovery is related to gliomas, which are a group of serious brain tumours. Researchers discovered that brain tumours contain increased amount of folate receptor expression relative to adjacent brain tissue. This phenomenon has been observed in both experimental…
The potential of micro scanners in medical technology is immense. Their small size, low weight and high energy efficiency make them ideal for mobile use. More than 200 different micro scanner designs have been developed at Fraunhofer IPMS to meet customer-specific requirements. The range of services covers the entire value chain, from design and prototype development to pilot production in its own clean room on 8” wafer. Fraunhofer IPMS is continuously expanding the application range of scanner mirror technology with…
Pathways in the brain The different areas in the brain are connected to each other via billions of nerve fibres. These connections are vital for proper brain function. The quest for a comprehensive map of all neural connections critically depends on imaging techniques that can disentangle these fibres, most of them only about a micrometre thin. Particularly challenging are regions with densely packed and highly interwoven nerve fibres. Miriam Menzel, Assistant Professor at the Department of Imaging Physics of TU…
EPFL researchers have published a first study on the mechanics of surgical knots, with results that could be used to train surgeons to tie stronger, safer sutures – a skill that usually requires years of practice to master. Think about the last time you tied your shoe: maybe you tied it tightly, or tied multiple knots to ensure the laces wouldn’t come undone. You likely relied on intuition to tell you how much tension to apply to keep the laces…
… realign autonomously when cut. The advance presages a new era of robots and prosthetics wrapped in self-healing synthetic materials imbued with human-like sense of touch. Human skin is amazing. It senses temperature, pressure, and texture. It’s able to stretch and spring back, time and again. And it provides a barrier between the body and bad things in the world—bacteria, viruses, toxins, ultraviolet radiation and more. Engineers are, accordingly, keen to create synthetic skin. They imagine robots and prosthetic limbs…
Medicine is becoming increasingly complex, not least due to new technologies. Artificial Intelligence (AI) aims to help doctors manage the flood of information and make the best possible decisions for their patients. With the recently founded AI Center for Health Care, the state of Bremen is promoting cross-institute cooperation on this future topic through the U Bremen Research Alliance – and is bolstering health research in Bremen. As one of the activities in the lead project “Artificial Intelligence”, establishing the…
Rice U. engineers’ device is gentle on neurons, could serve as sensory prosthesis. Conventional implantable medical devices designed for brain stimulation are often too rigid and bulky for what is one of the body’s softest and most delicate tissues. To address the problem, Rice University engineers have developed minimally invasive, ultraflexible nanoelectrodes that could serve as an implanted platform for administering long-term, high-resolution stimulation therapy. According to a study published in Cell Reports, the tiny implantable devices formed stable, long-lasting and seamless…
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