Medical Devices

Surgical stitches are good for helping wounds heal, but they can pop open with too much movement. Scientists have now turned that weakness into a strength, developing stitches that generate an electric charge when stretched and heal wounds faster.

While topically-applied medications do help alleviate various skin conditions, they'd be even more effective if they could better penetrate the skin's surface. Newly developed nanoceramic "stars" may one day help, by poking tiny holes in the skin.

While a number of groups are developing thought-controlled prosthetic hands, most of the devices require fiddly electrodes to be implanted in the amputee's body. Such is not the case with a new system, however, which works with implanted magnets.

For babies born with a certain heart defect, implantation of a "shunt" is essential to their survival. A new type of shunt can be expanded using light after it's been implanted, potentially eliminating the need for more heart surgeries down the road.

While titanium hip and knee implants do restore mobility to a great many people, they're still subject to failure. A new alloy could help change that, simply by adding a smidge of bendy, bacteria-killing gallium to the mix.

A new surgical technique for below-the-knee amputations retains a person’s ability to receive sensory feedback from remaining muscles. Having a prosthetic leg driven by an amputee’s own nervous system enables them to walk much more naturally, new research has shown.

A mussel protein could one day keep infections from occurring at the site of bone implants such as artificial hips. And while the protein does kill the microbes, it should still limit the development of antibiotic-resistant "superbacteria."

If someone is already suffering from heart failure, they certainly shouldn't have to deal with a serious infection on top of that. A new type of electrical wire, designed for powering implanted heart pumps, could help keep that from happening.

Researchers have created a thin transparent neural implant that can monitor activity on the brain's surface but also account for functions at a deeper level. The hope is that it will lead to an accurate but less invasive brain-computer interface.

Observing a pen full of salmon at a fish farm will only tell you so much about their well-being. That's why Norwegian scientists have developed an implant that measures and records the vital signs of individual fish, who will serve as "sentinels."

If you've ever tried pulling a mussel off a rock, you'll know that they're good at holding on. The secret to their success is a natural adhesive, which has been replicated in a glue that could help keep orthopedic implants attached to bone tissue.

Implants and tiny machines could eventually help treat disease or monitor activity, but communication is tricky. Now scientists at EPFL have developed a system whereby devices can communicate by releasing molecules into a patient’s bloodstream.

While titanium implants such as artificial hips can greatly improve patients' lives, they're also subject to serious bacterial infections. An experimental new antibacterial titanium alloy, however, could make such problems a thing of the past.

Researchers have developed an implant that records brain signals to decode what people are trying to say. While still early days, the device may provide people who’ve lost speech due to neurodegenerative disease with the ability to communicate.

The world is edging closer to fully functional prosthetic limbs, with the success of the bionic Mia Hand. This futuristic piece of biotech connects to the nervous and skeletal systems to offer 80% of normal, daily use to someone who has lost a hand.