Piezoelectric

Engineers at MIT have developed an ultra-thin speaker that could be used to make entire surfaces produce sound. The unique design should be energy efficient and easy to produce at scale, the team says.

By stimulating cells to reproduce, electricity has already been shown to help heal soft tissue injuries. Now, an electricity-producing implantable material likewise appears to boost the regrowth of cartilage in compromised joints.

Although we've seen several systems that use vehicle-integrated cameras to detect intoxicated drivers, a team of Japanese scientists claim that such technology isn't always reliable. Their alternative? A drunk-driver-detecting car seat.

Although hearing aids do make life easier for many people, their limited battery life can be problematic. Scientists have set about addressing that shortcoming, by designing a hearing aid that requires no batteries.

While implanted artificial teeth do offer a longer-term alternative to dentures, they may need to be surgically replaced if gum infections occur. Scientists are thus working on a better implant, that would generate electricity via mouth movements.

A new study has explored the potential of piezoelectric devices, which turn motion into electricity, to treat damaged tendons and found they can act as a "switch" to turn on highly targeted regenerative processes.

Although we've already heard how electrical stimulation can help speed the healing of wounds, electrical devices themselves often can't be implanted in soft tissue. That could soon change, though, thanks to the development of a "piezoelectric wafer."

Although there are implants that gradually release medication at specific sites within the body, it can be difficult to control their rate of release. An experimental new device, however, dispenses drugs when externally activated by a shockwave.

There are untold energy sources all around us, if we can just figure out how to tap into them. Swiss researchers have now demonstrated an environmentally friendly way to make spongy wood flooring that can generate electricity with every step.

We've already heard about implantable materials with a scaffolding-like microstructure, that help heal broken bones by giving bone cells a place to migrate into. A new one could work even better, though, by also providing electrical stimulation.

A new MIT system is designed for charging batteries to power a network of sensors that would transmit data from the sea floor.

Not only do cockroaches give many people the creeps, but often when you step on one of the critters, it just keeps on scurrying. Such resilience would be a good feature for mini-robots designed to scout disaster sites – among other applications – which is why scientists have created such a device.