Burnout and chronic fatigue carry a substantial economic cost and pose serious risks in professions where alertness is critical. Yet diagnosing fatigue and related mental health conditions today relies largely on self-reported questionnaires, which tend to be subjective, intermittent and poorly suited to real-time evaluation. Wearable devices could fill the gap by continuously tracking cardiovascular … Read more
No matter the size or severity, wounds on human skin are difficult to monitor while they heal. Biopsies disrupt the wound site and are too invasive for routine, repeated monitoring, and most medical imaging devices that could do the job are large, expensive and booked up with more pressing diagnostics. Clinicians typically resort to visual … Read more
Researchers from Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Southeast University, and Wenzhou Medical University have developed a novel microneedle patch that combines MXene hydrogel with nitric oxide (NO) and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) plasmid for enhanced diabetic wound treatment. This study, published in the journal Engineering, presents a promising approach to addressing the chronic and non-healing wounds often … Read more
More than 10,000 Americans who suffer from chronic liver disease are on a waitlist for a liver transplant, but there are not enough donated organs for all of those patients. Additionally, many people with liver failure aren’t eligible for a transplant if they are not healthy enough to tolerate the surgery. To help those patients, … Read more
Announcing a new article publication for BIO Integration journal. Soft and sustainable wearable bioelectronics are emerging as key platforms for personal health monitoring and digital healthcare. These systems can continuously acquire electrical, mechanical, and biochemical signals during daily life by integrating skin-like soft materials, hydrogel-based interfaces, and environmentally conscious device architectures with wireless communication and … Read more
Selecting the healthiest embryo is one of the most important steps in in‑vitro fertilization (IVF), yet it remains one of the most uncertain. Roughly 15 percent of couples worldwide experience infertility, and IVF success rates often remain below 33 percent. A major challenge is that embryologists must choose a single embryo to implant, relying on … Read more
Salivary glands play an essential role in protecting oral health by secreting saliva to aid in digestion, speech, and immunity. When these glands are irreversibly damaged—by radiotherapy or autoimmune attacks—patients often face chronic discomfort, difficulty eating, and increased risk of infection. Yet recreating salivary function in the lab remains an elusive challenge due to the … Read more
Growing cells in the laboratory is an art that humans have mastered decades ago. Recreating entire three-dimensional tissues is much more challenging. Empa researchers are developing a new hydrogel-based material that makes it possible to engineer artificial skin tissues, which can serve as living three-dimensional models of human skin for better understanding and treating skin … Read more
A Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) researcher is developing a new class of medical adhesives by bringing together hydrogels and glue-like polymers to safely and reliably connect human tissues to therapeutic devices implanted in the body, such as pacemakers, insulin pumps, and artificial joints. Jiawei Yang, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering who is … Read more
Meniscus tears are common knee injuries that have long frustrated patients and doctors due to limited repair options. A new 3D-printed hydrogel made from cow meniscus could transform how these injuries heal, according to results of a pre-clinical study published in Bioactive Materials. from researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of … Read more