Medical

Sensors such as EEG electrodes can help save a person's life, but the adhesive patches used to attach them may also harm that person's skin. An experimental new medical patch addresses that issue by utilizing octopus-inspired suckers.

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.

In the first study of its kind, excess abdominal fat has been associated with chronic pain, but the good news is that losing weight that can reduce waistlines could help relieve widespread musculoskeletal conditions and greatly improve quality of life.

A common childhood epilepsy drug has the potential to change the lives of millions of people who suffer from sleep apnea, as a clinical trial has delivered surprising results in reducing breathing interruptions and improving daytime alertness.

Doctors have successfully operated on a pig – from 9,300 km (5,780 miles) away. Surgeons in Switzerland used a game controller to perform an endoscopy in Hong Kong, paving the way for remote procedures in humans where local expertise isn’t available.

In an effort to do the right thing for their health, more than 17 million Americans could actually be getting poor blood pressure readings from at-home kits with ill-fitting cuffs. This can have serious implications for nearly 7% of US adults.

Many people still often wear masks, either to keep from spreading viruses that they've got, or to manage a respiratory problem. An experimental new mask takes things a step further, by analyzing its wearer's breath to check their state of health.

A new injectable, temporary pacemaker could help correct a heart arrhythmia in an emergency. This nanoparticle gel can regulate the heart’s electrical signals for up to five days before dissolving harmlessly in the body.

Currently, when doctors wish to continuously monitor a patient's blood pressure, they insert a catheter into one of the individual's arteries. There could soon be a safer alternative, however, and it was inspired by the tuning of guitar strings.

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.

A severe brain injury can leave patients unresponsive to stimuli, but they may be more aware than we realize. A new study of brain activity has shown that up to a quarter of unresponsive patients may exhibit “hidden consciousness.”

We were this close to seeing Ecstasy being incorporated into therapy in the US in 2024. Now, we have to wait either a little or a lot – depending on how the chips fall. Let's have a closer look at where we're currently at.

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.

For some time now, scientists have known that electrical stimulation speeds the healing of chronic wounds. A thin, flexible, inexpensive new bandage delivers that healing current right to the wound site, and it's activated simply by adding water.

Scientists have made a breakthrough that could lead to new treatment options for celiac patients. The team identified how and where the gluten response begins, with certain cells playing a bigger role than thought.