How can diseases of the cardiovascular system be detected before symptoms appear? Researchers at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) have found a way to track them down at an early stage. Sascha Ranftl (l.) from the Institute of Theoretical and Computational Physics at TU Graz and Vahid Badeli from the Institute of Fundamentals and Theory in Electrical Engineering at TU Graz. Foto: Christine Rechling Cardiovascular diseases are among the most common causes of death worldwide. They are often only…
Lowering healthcare costs by relying less on electronics. A new, air-powered computer sets off alarms when certain medical devices fail. The invention is a more reliable and lower-cost way to help prevent blood clots and strokes — all without electronic sensors. Described in a paper in the journal Device, the computer not only runs on air, but also uses air to issue warnings. It immediately blows a whistle when it detects a problem with the lifesaving compression machine it is…
Thousands of athletes are currently competing for medals at the Olympic Games in Paris. And in some cases, questions will be asked about whether medals were won fairly or whether doping was involved. Software developed by a team led by Wolfgang Maaß, professor of business informatics at Saarland University, could help to answer these questions in future competitions. The software, which is currently being presented at the International Joint Conference on AI (3–9 August in South Korea), needs only a…
Offering patients with concussion a type of brain scan known as diffusion tensor imaging MRI could help identify the one in three people who will experience persistent symptoms that can be life changing, say Cambridge researchers. Around one in 200 people in Europe every year will suffer concussion. In the UK, more than 1 million people attend Emergency Departments annually with a recent head injury. It is the most common form of brain injury worldwide. When a patient in the…
New printing method creates branching vessels in heart tissue that replicate the structure of human vasculature in vitro. Growing functional human organs outside the body is a long-sought “holy grail” of organ transplantation medicine that remains elusive. New research from Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) brings that quest one big step closer to completion. A team of scientists created a new method to 3D print vascular networks that consist…
Researchers have developed an inexpensive bandage that uses an electric field to promote healing in chronic wounds. In animal testing, wounds that were treated with these electric bandages healed 30% faster than wounds treated with conventional bandages. Chronic wounds are open wounds that heal slowly, if they heal at all. For example, sores that occur in some patients with diabetes are chronic wounds. These wounds are particularly problematic because they often recur after treatment and significantly increase the risk of…
Device uses sound waves to gather blood pressure data from blood vessels, monitoring the response with ultrasound. Solving a decades-old problem, a multidisciplinary team of Caltech researchers has figured out a method to noninvasively and continually measure blood pressure anywhere on the body with next to no disruption to the patient. A device based on the new technique holds the promise to enable better vital-sign monitoring at home, in hospitals, and possibly even in remote locations where resources are limited….
Gold does not readily lend itself to being turned into long, thin threads. But researchers at Linköping University in Sweden have now managed to create gold nanowires and develop soft electrodes that can be connected to the nervous system. The electrodes are soft as nerves, stretchable and electrically conductive, and are projected to last for a long time in the body. Some people have a “heart of gold”, so why not “nerves of gold”? In the future, it may be…
Not with these fatigue-detecting earbuds. UC Berkeley researchers have created earpieces that identify brain activity associated with relaxation and drowsiness. Everyone gets sleepy at work from time to time, especially after a big lunch. But for people whose jobs involve driving or working with heavy machinery, drowsiness can be extremely dangerous — if not outright deadly. Drowsy driving contributes to hundreds of fatal vehicle accidents in the U.S. each year, and the National Safety Council has cited drowsiness as a…
3D printing method makes it possible… Scientists have developed a new way to 3D print materials strong enough to support human tissue. In the quest to develop life-like materials to replace and repair human body parts, scientists face a formidable challenge: Real tissues are often both strong and stretchable and vary in shape and size. A CU Boulder-led team, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, has taken a critical step toward cracking that code. They’ve developed a…
University of Utah researchers develop potential alpha-particle treatments that target the plaques on the brain that lead to dementia. Alzheimer’s disease, a debilitating brain disorder with limited treatment options, has long challenged researchers. Specifically, researchers have struggled with slowing the buildup of amyloid beta plaques, harmful clumps of proteins that exacerbate the disease by damaging brain cells and causing memory loss. Led by the John and Marcia Price College of Engineering, University of Utah researchers have developed a groundbreaking approach…
CHARM3D paves the way for the efficient printing of free-standing 3D structures that offer high electrical conductivity, self-healing capabilities and recyclability — a boon for electronics in healthcare, communications and security. Unlike traditional printed circuit boards, which are flat, 3D circuitry enables components to be stacked and integrated vertically — dramatically reducing the footprint required for devices. Advancing the frontiers of 3D printed circuits, a team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed a state-of-the-art technique…
Hereon sensors facilitate minimally invasive surgery for atrial fibrillation in heart patients. Atrial fibrillation can cause dangerous blood clots to form in the heart. Many patients therefore have the part of the heart where the clots form closed off with a plug. However, these so-called occluders do not always seal perfectly, which can lead to complications. The Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon at its Teltow site is developing an occluder with sensors that can be placed precisely in the heart. The GoBio Initial…
Artificial blood vessels could improve heart bypass outcomes. 3D-printed blood vessels, which closely mimic the properties of human veins, could transform the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Strong, flexible, gel-like tubes – created using a novel 3D printing technology – could improve outcomes for heart bypass patients by replacing the human and synthetic veins currently used in surgery to re-route blood flow, experts say. The development of synthetic vessels could help limit scarring, pain and infection risk associated with the removal…
Successful surgery for a rare congenital heart disease “scimitar syndrome”. Scimitar syndrome, a rare congenital heart disease, involves an anomalous pulmonary venous return where the right pulmonary veins return to the inferior vena cava instead of the left atrium. It is mainly diagnosed in infants, with an estimated prevalence of 1–3 per 100,000 births. Delayed treatment can lead to pulmonary hypertension, right heart failure, respiratory failure, heart arrhythmia, and growth disorders. This syndrome is characterized by anomalous pulmonary venous drainage…
Researchers have developed soft, stretchable ‘jelly batteries’ that could be used for wearable devices or soft robotics, or even implanted in the brain to deliver drugs or treat conditions such as epilepsy. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, took their inspiration from electric eels, which stun their prey with modified muscle cells called electrocytes. Like electrocytes, the jelly-like materials developed by the Cambridge researchers have a layered structure, like sticky Lego, that makes them capable of delivering an electric…
Feedback
