New Atlas

Health & Wellbeing Audio available

Microfluidic sticker measures skin's pH levels

Ben Coxworth January 9, 2019

It was just a couple of months ago that L'Oréal announced My Skin Track UV, a wearable battery-free device that measures its user's ultraviolet light exposure. Well, the company has now unveiled My Skin Track pH, a wearable that monitors the pH levels of its user's skin.

My Skin Track pH is adhered to the inner arm

Medical Audio available

Budget biosensor detects infections in real time

Ben Coxworth November 29, 2018

Ordinarily, it takes two to five days to determine if harmful bacteria are present in a patient's biological samples. Within that time, any infection that's present could get much worse. A newly-developed biosensor, however, is capable of analyzing samples on the spot.

Asst. Prof. Mohammad Zarifi with the business end of the biosensor

Health & Wellbeing

Smart wristband concept to usher in new generation of wearable health trackers

Rich Haridy August 7, 2018

This design for a smart wristband from engineers at Rutgers University promises a new generation of wearable health and environment trackers. The prototype device can wirelessly connect to a smartphone that then processes and displays a broad assortment of biomarkers including blood cell counts.

The prototype smart wristband that can wirelessly communicate with a smartphone

Robotics

Peacock spider inspires small, soft, fluid-powered robots

Michael Irving August 7, 2018

If robots are ever going to work alongside humans in the real world, they're going to need a softer touch. Harvard researchers have developed a new method for producing small-scale squishy robots, and demonstrated it by creating a flexible robotic peacock spider, driven by a microfluidics system.

A Harvard team has developed a new method to make tiny, soft robot spiders, powered by ...

Robotics

Robotic device is made to draw blood

Ben Coxworth June 13, 2018

We've already seen a robotic device that's capable of inserting intravenous needles in people's arms. Now, researchers from New Jersey's Rutgers University have designed a system for drawing and analyzing blood samples.

Science

Scientists sort sperm – using an obstacle course

Ben Coxworth January 3, 2018

When performing in vitro fertilization, it's important to use the "best" sperm possible. And while there are already sorting methods that select the fastest-swimming sperm, a new microfluidic device also ensures that they're the healthiest.

Worcester's Prof. Erkan Tüzel (left) and PhD candidate James Kingsley examine the SPARTAN device

Biology

Sound waves enable blood sample analysis in minutes

Rich Haridy September 20, 2017

A few years ago, MIT scientists developed a novel way to separate blood cells using sound waves. Now the team has demonstrated the process can isolate exosomes from blood samples, potentially creating a fast way to detect biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.

This illustration shows how the exosomes (represented by pink spheres) are separated from other materials by ...

Medical

Device may detect onset of sepsis, before it's too late

Ben Coxworth July 4, 2017

If sepsis is addressed too late, it can result in organ failure and ultimately death. Scientists at the University of Illinois are working at detecting the harmful immune response quicker than ever, with a new lab-on-a-chip device.

A close-up rendering of the sepsis-detecting device

Medical

Microfluidic model replicates womens' reproductive tract

Ben Coxworth March 28, 2017

Scientists have developed what's been described as "the female menstrual cycle in a dish." Known as Evatar, the system contains actual human tissue, and incorporates interconnected 3D models of the ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, cervix, vagina and liver.

Medical

1-cent "lab on a chip" could save lives

Colin Jeffrey February 7, 2017

With little more than a standard inkjet printer, some silicone, and a sheet of polymer film, Stanford researchers have created a reusable diagnostic "lab on a chip" that costs just 1 cent to make. This new technology could help vastly improve disease detection worldwide.

Rahim Esfandyarpour helped to develop a way to create a diagnostic "lab on a chip" for ...