https://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Implanting a device into the deep temporal cortex of a mouse without damaging the brain has long been a major challenge in neuroscience research. A team at Meijo University and Dokkyo Medical University has now overcome this barrier with a flexible sheet thinner than a human hair that slides into place without penetrating the brain. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-flexible-neural-sheet-device-deep.html Tue, 12 May 2026 14:00:08 EDT news697809301 If you've been thinking about ditching your glasses or contacts, you might be wondering: Is now a good time for LASIK surgery? Is there a "best age?" Should you wait until your prescription stops changing? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-lasik-age-eligibility-recovery.html Thu, 09 Apr 2026 10:40:01 EDT news694947541 Millions of people in the United States have chronic wounds, including those living with diabetes, patients recovering from burns, post-surgical patients and other people with injuries. For clinicians, early detection of infection, inflammation or other recovery setbacks can be challenging to detect, primarily because patients may be self-reporting or awaiting lab results. This can result in a worsening infection, long-term damage and, in some cases, amputation. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-smart-bandage-tracks-wound-status.html Sun, 29 Mar 2026 10:00:18 EDT news693752690 Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, have developed a polymeric biohybrid cardiac device that harnesses the power of light to electrically and mechanically control living heart tissue without the use of metal electrodes. The innovation represents a leap forward in how scientists study heart disease, test cardiac drugs and potentially treat life-threatening arrhythmias. The project is outlined in a paper published in the journal Cell Biomaterials. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-powered-biohybrid-cardiac-interface-synchronize.html Wed, 25 Mar 2026 16:00:07 EDT news693671942 The human brain contains more connections between neurons than there are stars in the Milky Way. Decoding the electrical activity behind all those cells is the massive task that excites neural engineers like Felix Deku, who are working to build better tools for recording brain activity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-brain-electrical-conversations-tools.html Thu, 19 Mar 2026 13:20:03 EDT news693143701 A study led by Dartmouth Engineering professors demonstrates a possible new technique for connecting electronic implants with the surface of the brain, as well as a new method for ensuring safe, long-term medical access to the brain. Alexander Boys and Katie Hixon combined their research areas of thin-film bioelectronics and regenerative tissue engineering to produce a neural device that promotes healing of the skull following implantation onto the brain. Their study is published in Advanced Materials Technologies and will be featured on the journal's cover in March. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-neural-implant-approach-regrows-skull.html Thu, 05 Feb 2026 09:40:01 EST news689504494 Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness among people who are unable to monitor and manage their intraocular pressure (IOP) daily. The current tools for IOP measurement are not portable, convenient, easily accessible, or capable of continuous (24/7) monitoring. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-smart-contact-lens-thin-sensor.html Tue, 27 Jan 2026 14:56:42 EST news688748161 Wearable devices like smartwatches and fitness trackers interact with parts of our bodies to measure and learn from internal processes, such as our heart rate or sleep stages. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-subcellular-wearable-devices-neurons-modulate.html Thu, 31 Oct 2024 10:26:04 EDT news649589161 Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a band-aid or plaster that measures body biomarkers that can indicate health or disease through sweat, paving the way for a new non-invasive and effective way for patients to monitor their health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-07-scientists-bandage-glucose-microlaser-technology.html Mon, 08 Jul 2024 10:05:13 EDT news639651907 A research team led by Professor Sohee Kim of the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering in the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology has successfully developed three-dimensional retinal electrodes that resemble convex Braille. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-dimensional-retinal-electrodes-convex-braille.html Tue, 07 May 2024 10:06:28 EDT news634295186 Flexible thin-film electrodes placed directly on brain tissue show promise for the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy, as demonstrated recently by scientists at Tokyo Tech. Thanks to an innovative yet straightforward design, these durable electrodes accurately match the mechanical properties of brain tissue, leading to better performance during electrocorticography recordings and targeted neural stimulation. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-09-brain-thin-film-neural-electrodes-epilepsy.html Thu, 14 Sep 2023 11:00:12 EDT news613908010 A research team led by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed a novel technique to self-assemble a thin layer of amino acids with ordered orientation over a large area that demonstrates high piezoelectric strength, making the manufacturing of biocompatible and biodegradable medical microdevices, such as pacemaker and implantable biosensor, in the near future possible. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-technique-self-assemble-high-performance-biomolecular.html Thu, 10 Aug 2023 07:04:15 EDT news610869848 Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) researchers have developed one of the world's smallest, most intense and fastest refrigeration devices, the wearable thin-film thermoelectric cooler (TFTEC), and teamed with neuroscientists to help amputees perceive a sense of temperature with their phantom limbs. They have published their work in Nature Biomedical Engineering. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-07-cold-sensation-amputees-phantom-limbs.html Thu, 27 Jul 2023 11:00:01 EDT news609672728 DNA can help to stimulate bone healing in a localized and targeted manner, for example after a complicated fracture or after severe tissue loss following surgery. This has been demonstrated by researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), the University of Leipzig, the University of Aveiro (Portugal) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS in Halle. They have developed a new process in which they coat implant materials with a gene-activated biomaterial that induces stem cells to produce bone tissue. Their findings were published in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-02-method-bone-growth.html Thu, 09 Feb 2023 11:34:03 EST news595164841 Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed a film that not only protects wounds similar to the way a bandage does, but also helps wounds to heal faster, repels bacteria, dampens inflammation, releases active pharmaceutical ingredients in a targeted manner and ultimately dissolves by itself. This is all made possible by its dedicated design and the use of mucins, molecules which occur naturally in mucous membranes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-05-biomolecular-adheres-sensitive-tissue-ingredients.html Mon, 30 May 2022 08:59:01 EDT news573119937 Researchers at Toyohashi University of Technology, Dokkyo Medical University and the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University have developed a flexible, multipoint microLED array film. The film can be flexibly attached to cover the brain and can illuminate specific regions of it as microLEDs are arranged along multiple points of it. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-03-illuminating-brain-ultra-thin-flexible-multipoint.html Fri, 18 Mar 2022 11:34:07 EDT news566822042 A team of researchers working at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China has developed an electrically charged thin film patch for promoting faster wound healing. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes their patch, how it works, and how well it performed when tested on rats. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-01-electrically-thin-patch-wound.html Fri, 28 Jan 2022 10:30:01 EST news562586760 Earlier this year, thin-film microgrid arrays developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and used in neurologist Jon Kleen's patients at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) showed that hippocampal brain activity consisted of waves that traveled bi-directionally during behavioral tasks. These thin-film microgrid arrays are designed not just to sit on the surface of the brain, as they did when measuring the hippocampal brain waves, but are flexible enough to make intimate contact with the topography of the brain's surface. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-12-microfabricated-thin-film-electrodes-therapeutic.html Thu, 02 Dec 2021 16:17:41 EST news557684255 Thin-film electrodes developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have been used in human patients at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), generating never-before-seen recordings of brain activity in the hippocampus, a region responsible for memory and other cognitive functions. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-05-thin-film-electrodes-reveal-key-insight.html Thu, 13 May 2021 09:10:59 EDT news540115854 The only antiviral drug currently used to treat SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, is remdesivir, but administering it is invasive and challenging. Scientists at The University of Texas at Austin are hoping to change that by using their novel thin-film-freezing technology to deliver remdesivir through dry powder inhalation, potentially making treatment more potent, easier to administer and more broadly available. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-07-powder-inhalation-potent-tool-covid-.html Wed, 29 Jul 2020 08:10:01 EDT news515227994 What if a metal that's already used to repair broken bones, straighten teeth and keep arteries from clogging could also be used to stop your cancer from spreading? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-12-scientists-thin-metal-mesh-cells.html Mon, 09 Dec 2019 11:00:14 EST news495093303 Eye doctor Dr. Toshihiko Matsuo and polymer science engineer Dr. Tetsuya Uchida have been developing a new type of retinal prosthesis that is based on a photoelectric dye. The photoelectric dye is an organic molecule that absorbs light and converts light energy into electric potentials. The dye molecules are coupled to the surface of a film made of polyethylene. The polyethylene film (or polymer) is a biologically safe and stable material which is used, for example, as a component of artificial joints. The photoelectric dye-coupled polyethylene film, called Okayama University-type retinal prosthesis or OUReP, can be implanted beneath the retina as a substitute for photoreceptor cells. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-09-photoelectric-dye-coupled-thin-retinal-prosthesis.html Tue, 30 Sep 2014 06:20:01 EDT news331275309 A new video-article in JoVE, Journal of Visualized Experiments, details the use of a new laser-activated bio-adhesive polymer. The chitosan-based polymer, SurgiLux, was developed by scientists at the University of New South Wales. Chitosan is a polymer derived from chitin, which is found in fungal cell walls or in exoskeletons of crustaceans and insects.This molecular component allows SurgiLux to form low energy bonds between the polymer and the desired tissue when it absorbs light. The technology may soon replace traditional sutures in the clinic. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-bio-adhesive-polymer-jove.html Thu, 25 Oct 2012 15:40:14 EDT news270397813