Medical Engineering
The development of medical equipment, products and technical procedures is characterized by high research and development costs in a variety of fields related to the study of human medicine.
innovations-report provides informative and stimulating reports and articles on topics ranging from imaging processes, cell and tissue techniques, optical techniques, implants, orthopedic aids, clinical and medical office equipment, dialysis systems and x-ray/radiation monitoring devices to endoscopy, ultrasound, surgical techniques, and dental materials.
Terahertz imaging may reduce breast cancer surgeries
A promising new technique to ensure complete tumor removal at breast cancer excision is introduced in the May issue of Radiology.
Researchers used light waves in a newly explored region of the electromagnetic spectrum–the terahertz region–to examine excised breast tissue and determine if the removed tissue margins were clear of cancer, with good results. This technology has the potential to eliminate the need for multiple surgeries and tissue samples to get clear surgical margins.
Bioactive cement scaffold may improve bone grafts
A new technology for implants that may improve construction or repair of bones in the face, skull and jaw, has been developed by researchers from the American Dental Association Foundation (ADAF) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Described in recent and upcoming journal articles,* the new technology provides a method for making scaffolds for bone tissue. The scaffold is seeded with a patient’s own cells and is formed with a cement paste made of mi
Free-Electron Laser Targets Fat
Fat may have finally met its match: laser light. Researchers at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) have shown, for the first time, that a laser can preferentially heat lipid-rich tissues, or fat, in the body without harming the overlying skin. Laser therapies based on the new research could treat a variety of health conditions, including se
New Dutch invention: Varibel, the glasses that hear
Today a new hearing aid in the form of a pair of glasses was unveiled. These hearing-glasses are called ’Varibel’ and offer older people the chance to stay active longer – free from the aesthetically unpleasing and technologically limited traditional hearing aids. Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands originally developed the hearing-glasses. Varibel developed these glasses into a consumer product in partnership with Philips, Frame Holland, the design agencies MMID and Verhoe
UA Optical Scientists Develop Switchable Focus Eyeglass Lenses
Optical scientists have developed eyeglass lenses that switch focus in a blink of an eye. Optical scientists at The University of Arizona have developed new switchable, flat, liquid crystal diffractive lenses that can adaptively change their focusing power. That’s great news for those old enough to wear bifocals. And it’s great news for anyone with imperfect vision, for it opens the way for next-generation “smart” eyeglasses — glasses with built-in automatic focus.
MIT technology used to shrink tumor at Boston hospital
Medical lasers are like science fiction heat rays that can vaporize tumors. The problem has been getting the lasers to where they are needed inside the body while protecting healthy tissue. Now “perfect mirror” technology, developed by MIT researchers, is being used to shoot a laser through a spaghetti-thin, flexible fiber to attack tumors and other diseased tissue in highly targeted, minimally invasive surgery. OmniGuide fiber, licensed through MIT’s Technology Licens