Implants

Implant Could Heal Spinal Cord Injury

A team of engineers and neuroscientists has built a spinal implant that may one day be used to heal a broken spinal cord in humans.

Lina Zeldovich
March 25, 2019
Self-cleaning Glaucoma Implant Could Improve Eye Treatment

Biomedical engineers develop self-cleaning glaucoma implant that could prevent blockage, improve eye treatment.

Menaka Wilhelm
February 01, 2019
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Embedded Device Stimulates Nerve Recovery, Then Absorbed by Body

Engineers develop the first bioelectronic medicine—an implantable device that stimulates nerve regeneration with electrical pulses. Once the nerve heals, the device disintegrates and the body absorbs it without toxic side effects.

Lina Zeldovich
January 02, 2019
Advanced Metamaterial Reshapes Hip Replacement Surgery

Mechanical metamaterials offer new hope to orthopedic patients and their doctors by nearly eliminating degradation and damage to the hip socket.

Dan Ferber
December 10, 2018
Wireless Implant Helps Paraplegics Walk Again

A brain-to-spine wireless implant uses electrical stimulation of the spinal cord combined with weight therapy to help patients with spinal cord injuries walk.

Kayt Sukel
November 26, 2018
3D-Printed Implant Could Help Cancer Patients Get Right Amount of Drug

A customizable drug implant could help automatically deliver the right amount of drugs over time to cancer patients.

Dan Ferber
November 19, 2018
Butterfly Wings Could Help Glaucoma Patients Retain Sight

Researchers looking through the transparent wings of a longtail glasswing butterfly found inspiration to create nanostructures coatings for an implantable eye pressure sensor that could help patients with glaucoma retain their sight.

Melissa Lutz Blouin
August 03, 2018
Restoring Sight to Blind Rats

An organic retinal prosthesis that uses flexible conductive polymers rather than hard silicon electronics successfully restored sight to blind rats, lasted six to 10 months, and functioned without external power sources or wireless receivers. 

Kayt Sukel
April 16, 2018
Surface Coatings for Biomedical Technologies

Risk of infection continues to be an issue across the healthcare arena. A Frost & Sullivan industry research study published in May 2017 reported that global revenue in the antimicrobial coating materials market stood at $700 million in 2016, and is poised to reach $1.1 billion by 2021.

October 24, 2017
Early Warning System May Prevent Brain Damage

Being able to sense a change in pressure on the brain after a traumatic brain injury would allow for swifter treatment that could stave off debilitating or fatal complications.

Theresa Sullivan ...
September 18, 2017
Implantable Telescope Treats Common Cause of Low Vision

A tiny telescope that surgeons implant in the eye has received FDA approval for clinical trials that could lead to much wider adoption.

Melissae Fellet
September 11, 2017
7 Human Organs on One Chip

Researchers have developed a human-on-a-chip, on which tissue from seven human organs is grown on a small polymer the size of a computer USB device. The chip is used for drug testing to cut the number of animal tests done.

Jean Thilmany
April 10, 2017
Video: Ingestibles and the Future of Biosensors

In the near future, you may monitor your health and diagnose illness – all by swallowing a biosensor. Prof. Ben Terry of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, describes this technology, which may sound like science fiction to many.

April 10, 2017
Prosthetic Heart Valve Prevents Coagulation

A prosthetic valve enables blood to swirl naturally as it flows, reducing stress on blood vessels.

Jeff O'Heir
April 10, 2017