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.
Sensors
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 • In hospitals
Smart pacifier monitors infant health
A wireless, bioelectronic pacifier could eliminate the need for invasive, twice-daily blood draws to monitor babies’ electrolytes in Newborn Intensive Care Units or NICUs.
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 • Proof of concept
Tattoo-like sensors reveal blood oxygen levels
Silk-based material under skin changes color in response to oxygen, and in the future might be adapted to track glucose and other blood components.
News • Multi-tasking
Wearable monitors glucose, alcohol, and lactate
Engineers have developed a prototype of a wearable that can continuously monitor several health stats—glucose, alcohol, and lactate levels—simultaneously in real-time.
News • mhealth
Smartphone-powered microchip for at-home diagnostic testing
Researchers developed a new microfluidic chip with broad applications for detecting viruses, pathogens, bacteria and other biomarkers in liquid samples.
News • Wearable
Robotic sleeve for lymphedema treatment
Microfluidic chip inflates and deflates balloons in a sleeve to promote fluid flow in the lymphatic system.
News • IoT medical equipment tracking
Collaboration to realize smart hospital initiative
The University Medical Centre (UMC) Utrecht, The Netherlands, collaborates with Fujitsu to realize their smart hospital initiative, using sensors, tags and IoT technology provided by the company.
News • Covid-19 drug monitoring
Smart sensor to evaluate vaccine safety
A new study enables developers to determine vaccine safety via smart sensors that measure objective physiological parameters. This could end the reliance on subjective reports of study participants.
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 • For better contact
A flexible brain-computer interface array
A brain-computer interface array featuring microneedles affixed to a flexible backing allows arrays of micro-scale needles to conform to the contours of the brain.
News • Deep learning diagnoses
AI detects COVID-19 from smartwatch sensors
Combining questions about a person's health with data from smartwatch sensors, a new app can predict within minutes whether someone is infected with COVID-19.
Article • Safe navigation
Enhanced precision with semi-automatic milling systems
Professor Dr Henning Windhagen is a great fan of semi-automatic systems that help with implants but leave the surgeon in the driver’s seat.
News • Cardiac care
Exploring the potential of tele-rehabilitation
Cardiac rehabilitation can be done just as well at home as in the hospital. This is the conclusion of the most extensive research into ‘tele-rehabilitation’ to date.
News • Sweating the small stuff
Wearable measures key stress hormone
Researchers have developed a smartwatch that assesses cortisol levels found in sweat. The device opens new possibilities for personal health monitoring.
News • Non-invasive indicator
3D-printed sensor 'sniffs' wound infection, changes colour
Scientists at Queen’s University Belfast have invented a tiny indicator that changes colour if a patient’s wound shows early signs of infection.
News • Potential game-changer
Telling COVID-19 apart from influenza
Researchers have developed a diagnostic for SARS-CoV-2 that is capable of differentiating between COVID-19 and the garden-variety bug with fast turnaround.
Article • Smart textiles
Haptic technology will change healthcare
At Medica 2021, Elitac Wearables exhibited its latest innovations in wearables, which feature haptic feedback and integrated sensors. We spoke with Merijn Klarenbeek, the company’s CEO, about the medical applications of wearable electronics and sensors.
News • In cardiac cells
Pop-up sensors measure electronic signals
A tiny ‘pop-up’ sensor monitors the electrical activity inside heart cells. The device could provide new insights into cardiac diseases, including myocardial infarction and arrhythmias.
News • Research
Quantum sensor to detect SARS-CoV-2 faster
Scientists at have designed a quantum sensor to detect SARS-CoV-2 faster, cheaper, and more accurate than the current gold-standard technique, PCR.
Article • Subset of wearables
From the wrist into the ear – the potential of hearables
Progress in miniaturising sensor technology has opened up new possibilities for monitoring vital signs outside the hospital environment. A subset of wearables are the so-called hearables – in-ear devices that are well suited for long-term monitoring as they are non-invasive, inconspicuous and easy to fasten. Hearables offer two major benefits: their proximity to the torso and vascular system of…
News • Monitoring after surgery
Smart sutures to monitor deep surgical wounds
To detect wound complications as soon as they happen, a team of researchers has invented a smart suture that is battery-free and can wirelessly sense and transmit information from deep surgical sites.
News • Intelligent algorithms
The gait lab for the pocket – app-based fall prevention
Every day, elderly people fall – be it at home or in care facilities. Med-tech start-up Lindera developed an app that allows motion analysis via a smartphone camera to minimize the risk of falling.
Article • Super-resolution miscroscopy
PEAR: setting nano-imaging in motion
Ever since the Abbe diffraction limit of conventional microscopy has been surpassed, super-resolution techniques have been diving ever deeper into the most miniscule details of molecular structures. We spoke with Prof. Dominic Zerulla, whose company PEARlabs is developing an imaging technique that sets out to push the boundaries once more – by looking at in-vivo nano-scale processes in motion.