Implant

Underactive bladder syndrome is a condition that leaves sufferers with an inability to properly empty the organ, but an international team of researchers has been working on an advanced medical implant that could make it far easier to manage.

While we have been hearing about the development of health-monitoring implantable sensors, most such devices would have to be surgically removed once no longer needed. An experimental new one, however, would just harmlessly dissolve.

When a patient receives a titanium artificial hip, there's always the risk of an infection developing at the interface between the metal and the bone. A new implant-coating process, however, is intended to greatly reduce that risk.

Human trials for a first-of-a-kind device designed to treat the brain via electrical stimulation have brought some very promising results, leading to significant quality-of-life improvements for a pair of men with motor neurone disease (MND).

Over the years we have looked at many implantable patches that can be used to treat damaged hearts, but a new example developed at the University of Houston is claimed to take these into new territory.

Heart attack patients often need replacements for damaged arteries. In a new proof-of-concept study, scientists knitted a prototype graft out of hybrid synthetic and biological yarn, helping the patients own cells grow and repair the artery.

Although we're hearing more and more about 3D-bioprinted body parts, at least one challenge remains: getting oxygen to the cells in the printed tissue. A new type of "bioink," however, is claimed to be capable of doing just that.

Scientists at the National University of Science and Technology in Russia are developing a new bioactive polymer-ceramic composite derived from common eggshells that can be used to treat skull injuries and other surgical bone procedures.

Whenever someone receives an implant such as an artificial hip, there's always a risk that it won't integrate with the surrounding bone, ultimately causing it to separate and fail. A new coating, however, has been created to keep that from happening.

One of the problems with implants such as pacemakers is the fact that when their batteries run out, they have to be surgically replaced. It may someday be possible, though, to recharge those batteries by shining light through the patient's skin.

When it comes to replacing faulty heart valves, there are two options – a metallic valve, or a biological one obtained from a pig or cow. There could soon be a third and perhaps better choice, though, in the form of a polymer replacement heart valve.

When it comes to the treatment of neurological conditions, doctors are increasingly looking to battery-powered implants that stimulate parts of the brain. Now, however, scientists have developed one that's externally powered by magnetic fields.