Polymer

As we increasingly move toward renewable energy sources like wind turbines, we're going to require the best means possible of relaying electricity from them to our cities. A new cable-insulating material may allow us to do so much more efficiently.

When a patient receives an organ transplant, they have to take drugs in order to keep their immune system from rejecting the organ. Such medication may one day no longer be necessary, however, thanks to a new blood vessel coating.

Presently, orthopedic surgeons use screwed-in metal plates to hold unstable broken bones together. There may soon be a less problematic, more customizable alternative, though, which incorporates a light-cured composite material.

Patients don't like getting needles, nor do clinicians like having to keep protein-based vaccines cold at all times. A new polymer wafer – which dissolves when placed under the tongue – could address both issues.

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 now a number of materials designed to give robots or prostheses a sense of touch. And while most of them are thin and skin-like, a new alternative takes the form of a spongey foam – and it combines several desirable qualities.

Stanford scientists have developed a new hydrogel with a Velcro-like molecular structure, letting it last longer at body temperature. The hope is that it could be injected into a patient to deliver drugs over weeks or months as it slowly dissolves.

In order to keep patients from developing opioid addictions, it's best if doctors can avoid prescribing the things in the first place. A new surgical patch could help, by gradually releasing painkillers right where they're needed.

When producing "smart fabrics" made of conductive fibers, it can be difficult placing functional elements such as electrodes in specific locations along those fibers. A new polymer, however, could make doing so much easier.

Ordinarily, when using an off-the-shelf 3D printer, it's quite difficult to print a single object that incorporates multiple materials. An experimental new system could make it easier, though, by utilizing a "programmable filament."

Optical fibers are already used in many fields, but they would have even more applications if they could be manufactured faster and cheaper. An experimental new process is claimed to deliver on both counts, and it uses mostly existing technologies.

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.