News • Implantable device for severe heart failure
Soft robotic heart: €10 million grant for research
The consortium Holland Hybrid Heart will receive €10 million to develop a soft robotic heart suitable for transplantation.
Implants
News • Size-changing and personalised
Researchers create 4D printed implants for efficient breast cancer management
Researchers from Queen’s University Belfast have created personalised 4D printed “smart” implants for breast cancer management - a first for this technology.
News • Soft, wireless implant
A dissolving cardiac device that monitors and treats heart disease
A new device could monitor and treat heart disease and dysfunction in the days, weeks or months following traumatic heart-related events — and harmlessly dissolve afterwards.
News • Joint implant material
Biodegradable gel shows promise for cartilage regeneration
A gel that combines both stiffness and toughness is a step forward in the bid to create biodegradable implants for joint injuries, according to new research from the University of British Columbia.
News • Focused Rotary Jet Spinning
Rapid-production heart valves control blood flow immediately after implantation
A new method for cheaply producing heart valves in the span of minutes shows great promise. The scientists describe the method as "a cotton-candy machine with a hair dryer behind it."
News • Strain mapping and antimicrobial properties
Smart coatings give early warning for implant failure
Newly developed “smart” coatings for surgical orthopedic implants can monitor strain on the devices to provide early warning of implant failures while killing infection-causing bacteria.
News • Flexible electronics and human stem cells
‘Biohybrid’ device could restore function in paralysed limbs
Cambridge researchers have developed a new type of neural implant that could restore limb function to amputees and others who have lost the use of their arms or legs.
Sponsored • Orthopaedics
Hip arthroplasty for femoral neck fractures – but without the complications
Arthroplasty for femoral neck fractures has seen enormous progress in recent years, but complications due to infections are still a major problem. With good preparation and the right technique, however, orthopaedic surgeons can take away much of the horror of this scenario.
News • AI enables greater mobility
Personalized finger joint implants from a 3D printer
Researchers use AI to develop personalized 3D-printed joint implants so that these delicate finger parts can be replaced when necessary (e.g. after illness or injury).
Sponsored • Periprosthetic protection
Bone cements containing antibiotics for infection prophylaxis – quo vadis?
Periprosthetic infections and revisions are on the rise in Germany and worldwide, with significant consequences for affected patients as well as for the healthcare systems. Precisely because the number of patients at higher risk of infection in arthroplasty continues to rise, attention is increasingly focused on how this dreaded complication can be avoided.
Article • Custom parts made in the lab
3D printed implants on demand
A custom-made new hip, a knee or maybe a piece of bone? The technology and possibilities for 3D printing are (almost) there. And such an implant from a 3D printer has many advantages, not only for the patient, but also for the surgeon who has to perform the operation. Koen Willemsen, physician, and medical engineer at the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU), was at the cradle of the 3D lab…
News • Separation between silicone and fat tissue
Algorithm improves MRI breast implant monitoring
In MRI-based monitoring of silicone implants, separation of silicone and fat tissue is challenging. A newly developed algorithm was designed to assist in the task.
News • Resources on ICD devices
Medical videos on YouTube often provide incomplete information, study finds
Patients looking for infos on implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) should not rely on YouTube videos, as quality content on the topic is few and far between, according to new research.
Sponsored • Implants
Osteoconductive PEEK biomaterial for injection molding
The specialty chemicals company Evonik and the Swiss plastics specialist Samaplast are combining their expertise in the development of an osteoconductive PEEK biomaterial for injection molding.
News • Osteoarthritis help
Lab-made cartilage gel outperforms real thing in knees
A research team has created the first gel-based cartilage substitute that is even stronger and more durable than the real thing, offering a promising solution for patient suffering from knee pain.
News • Diabetes
Device prevents buildup of scar tissue around implants
A new device, which doesn’t rely on immunosuppressing drugs, may assist efforts to develop an artificial pancreas to treat diabetes.
Sponsored • PJI risk mitigation
Arthroplasty: Avoiding infection and revisions in high-risk patients
The main goal of arthroplasty is to relieve pain, improve and restore joint function and recover quality of life. Periprosthetic joint infection remains a complication that has to be taken seriously.
News • Self-powered
Smart implants monitor spinal fusion healing
Spinal fusion—fusing two vertebrae together—can treat a wide variety of spinal disorders. A patient-specific 3D-printed smart metamaterial implant doubles as sensor to monitor spinal healing.
News • Novel manufacturing technique
3D printed heart valves to support tissue growth
Researchers have developed 3D printed artificial heart valves designed to allow a patient’s own cells to form new tissue.
News • Smart device
Dissolving pacemaker communicates with body-area sensor
Wireless bioresorbable pacemaker bypasses need to extract non-biodegradable leads, eliminating additional risk to the patient.
News • Vascular monitoring system
Implantable smart stent monitors hemodynamics
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a smart stent that can monitor hemodynamic parameters. The wireless and battery-free device can transmit the data to the outside of the body.
News • Ultrathin fuel cell
Using the body’s own sugar to power implants and sensors
Glucose is absorbed from the foods we eat and fuels every cell in our bodies. But could it also power tomorrow’s medical implants? According to a team of engineers, it might.
News • Neurology
Biodegradable implant to monitor brain chemistry
A wireless sensor could offer doctors a way to monitor changes in brain chemistry without requiring a second operation to remove the implant.
News • Inflammatory response
Drug coat on implants reduces "foreign body" reaction
An anti-inflammatory drug incorporated into the coating around an implantable electronic medical device – such as a pacemaker – can reduce the body’s "foreign body" reaction.
News • Promising approach
‘Drug factory’ implants eliminate ovarian, colorectal cancer in mice
Bioengineers have shown they can eradicate advanced-stage ovarian and colorectal cancer in mice in as little as six days with a treatment that could be ready for human clinical trials later this year.
