… senses when your voice needs a break. Singers, politicians, teachers, coaches could benefit from new smart technology. Vocal fatigue is a common condition caused by overuse Sensors provide awareness around how much wearers use their voices, with the goal to prevent vocal fatigue and further injury Developed by biomedical engineers and opera singers, the small, soft, flexible, wireless device sits on upper chest to monitor vocal activity in real time Using Bluetooth, data is streamed to an app, where…
Software opens the door for a greater number of complete genome sequences. National Institutes of Health researchers have developed and released an innovative software tool to assemble truly complete (i.e., gapless) genome sequences from a variety of species. This software, called Verkko, which means “network” in Finnish, makes the process of assembling complete genome sequences more affordable and accessible. A description of the new software was published today in Nature Biotechnology. Verkko grew from assembling the first gapless human genome…
… made with 3D printer! Micro-pattern printing even on curved non-conductors without applying voltage. Dr. Seol Seung-Kwon’s Smart 3D Printing Research Team at KERI and Professor Lim-Doo Jeong’s team at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) developed core technology for smart contact lenses that can implement augmented reality (AR)-based navigation, with a 3D printing process. A smart contact lens is a product attached to the human eye like a normal lens and provides various information. Research on the…
… for spinal cord injury repair. In a recent study published in Science Advances, a research team led by Profs. DAI Jianwu and ZHAO Yannan at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology (IGDB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences demonstrated a strategy for covalent conjugation between biomaterials and cells to construct spinal cord-like tissue with drug-guiding function for spinal cord injury (SCI) repair. SCI repair is one of the world’s most challenging medical problems. Engineered spinal cord-like implants based on stem…
The sensor sends out its location as it moves through the GI tract, revealing where slowdowns in digestion may occur. Engineers at MIT and Caltech 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. The tiny sensor works by detecting a magnetic field produced by an electromagnetic coil located outside the body….
Scientists from the Micro, Nano and Molecular Systems Lab at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research and the Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering and Advanced Materials at Heidelberg University have created a new technology to assemble matter in 3D. Their concept uses multiple acoustic holograms to generate pressure fields with which solid particles, gel beads and even biological cells can be printed. These results pave the way for novel 3D cell culture techniques with applications in biomedical engineering. The…
Wyss Institute’s eRapid electrochemical sensor technology enables detection of SARS-CoV-2 antigen-specific antibodies to detect virus and assess vaccine-induced immunity. Not all SARS-CoV-2 infections are created equal. We have learned this through multiple virus waves are taking their toll on the world’s population. Improving vaccines and new anti-viral therapies that target distinct viral molecules (antigens) and the changes they undergo over time have helped to soften this blow. However, to control the disease even better and everywhere, we have to be…
They are barely the size of a thumbnail, able to communicate with each other and respond to each other, and designed to make life easier for people with functional limitations. We are talking about a new generation of interactive microimplants developed by the innovation cluster INTAKT, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT. These miniature assistants can act as a stimulus in cases of…
Glaucoma is a common ocular disease in which the optic nerve malfunctions due to the increased intraocular pressure (IOP) caused by drainage canal blocking in the eye. This condition narrows the peripheral vision and can lead to vision loss in severe cases. Glaucoma patients have to manage IOP levels for their life-time. Automatic monitoring and control of the IOP in these patients would significantly improve their quality of life. Recently, a research team at POSTECH has developed a smart contact…
EPFL researchers have combined low-power chip design, machine learning algorithms, and soft implantable electrodes to produce a neural interface that can identify and suppress symptoms of various neurological disorders. Mahsa Shoaran of the Integrated Neurotechnologies Laboratory in the School of Engineering collaborated with Stéphanie Lacour in the Laboratory for Soft Bioelectronic Interfaces to develop NeuralTree: a closed-loop neuromodulation system-on-chip that can detect and alleviate disease symptoms. Thanks to a 256-channel high-resolution sensing array and an energy-efficient machine learning processor, the…
In non-cirrhotic liver diseases, organ transplantation in two steps, especially with a living donation, is a safe therapy option for donors and recipients. This is the conclusion of a case series evaluated by surgeons from the Jena University Hospital in “Annals of Surgery”. Due to the normal organ function e.g. in liver metastases and legal requirements, no donor organs are available for these patients according to the waiting list criteria. Far above 1,200 patients were listed waiting for a liver…
Brain stimulation, such as Deep brain stimulation (DBS), is a powerful way to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders. While it has provided therapeutic benefit for sufferers of Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and addiction for more than a decade, its underlying neural mechanism is not yet fully understood. Researchers at the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) are now one step closer to unravelling the mystery of brain activity to better understand this mechanism and potentially predict DBS outcomes. The brain is a highly complex…
UC San Diego engineers lead development of a powerful new ultrasound sensor system for cardiac imaging that even works during a workout. Engineers and physicians have developed a wearable ultrasound device that can assess both the structure and function of the human heart. The portable device, which is roughly the size of a postage stamp, can be worn for up to 24 hours and works even during strenuous exercise. The goal is to make ultrasound more accessible to a larger…
Researchers at Göttingen University develop new method for X-ray color imaging. A research team at the University of Göttingen has developed a new method to produce X-ray images in colour. In the past, the only way to determine the chemical composition of a sample and the position of its components using X-ray fluorescence analysis was to focus the X-rays and scan the whole sample. This is time-consuming and expensive. Scientists have now developed an approach that allows an image of…
Understanding the neural interface within the brain is critical to understanding aging, learning, disease progression and more. Existing methods for studying neurons in animal brains to better understand human brains, however, all carry limitations, from being too invasive to not detecting enough information. A newly developed, pop-up electrode device could gather more in-depth information about individual neurons and their interactions with each other while limiting the potential for brain tissue damage. The researchers, co-led by Huanyu “Larry” Cheng, James L. Henderson,…
A new research project at Aarhus University aims to find new forms of treatment for diseases such as multiple sclerosis, which breaks down myelin and nerve fibres, by developing new, artificial nerve fibres. Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s own immune cells attack myelin in the brain and spinal cord. Myelin or the myelin sheath is a protective layer of fat that insulates nerve fibres, much like plastic around an electrical cord. The sheath makes sure…
Feedback
