Implant

Stents can make a life-saving difference for people with vascular problems, as they open up narrowing blood vessels. An experimental new one goes a step further, by actually transmitting blood flow data to an external computer or mobile device.

Powering medical implants can be tricky, but tapping into the body’s own fuel source could keep them going long-term. A new design for a tiny fuel cell converts glucose into electricity to power implants more efficiently than any other so far.

When treating patients for certain conditions, it's important to monitor their blood oxygen levels. A new sub-dermal photosensitive sensor provides a new means of doing so, plus it could one day be used to measure other blood-borne substances.

Scientists regularly turn to nature for inspiration in their pursuit of next-generation materials, and engineers studying the porous microstructures of bone and wood have come up with a clever example of biomimicry with wide-ranging potential.

When a pacemaker's battery gets low, the whole implant typically has to be surgically replaced. Scientists are therefore developing a noninvasive battery recharging system, which utilizes externally applied ultrasound.

By taking ultrathin films and color pigments used routinely in the food industry, scientists have developed an implantable device that can be activated by light to stimulate nerve cells and accelerate healing.

Transmitting data from medical implants in the body can be tricky, but a new technique can essentially write data to ions in human tissue, where it can then be read from a receiver outside the body at high transmission speeds.

While some folks might say that obese people should just exercise more and eat less, things aren't always quite that simple. A new implant is thus being designed to help boost the weight-loss process, by killing hunger-inducing cells in the stomach.

Even though electronic implants such as pacemakers may save people's lives, the body's immune system sees those same implants as unwanted foreign objects. An experimental new drug-doped coating, however, may help keep that from happening.

Currently, devices such as pacemakers and deep-brain-stimulating electrodes have to be surgically implanted within patients' bodies. According to a new study, however, such implants may someday be replaced with cells that are activated by ultrasound.

In what is being described as a world-first, scientists in Israel have reportedly grown spinal cord implants utilizing tissue extracted from human volunteers. Those implants were then used to restore walking abilities to previously paralyzed mice.

Researchers have developed a new type of artificial muscle that’s entirely made out of natural proteins. Responding to changes in its environment allows the muscle to flex on demand, which could make it useful for implants, prosthetics or robots.