Author: Maryam Hadadi

A millimeter-scale microLED display that fits onto a contact lens to provide augmented reality is, frankly, amazing, but for it to be useful it needs to know what to display. Last month at the IEEE International Solid State Circuits Conference, augmented reality contact lens startup Mojo Vision in Saratoga, Calif., reported new details of the image chip and image processing circuits that tell their display what to paint onto your retina….

New hydrogel-based materials that can change shape in response to psychological stimuli, such as water, could be the next generation of materials used to bioengineer tissues and organs, according to a team of researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago. In a new paper published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, the research team — led by Eben Alsberg, the Richard and Loan Hill Professor of Biomedical Engineering — that…

Gene editing delivery method in mice suggests possible one shot treatment of high cholesterol The genome editing technology CRISPR has emerged as a powerful new tool that can change the way we treat disease. The challenge when altering the genetics of our cells, however, is how to do it safely, effectively, and specifically targeted to the gene, tissue and organ that needs treatment. Scientists at Tufts University and the Broad…

Millions of patients suffering from neurological and mental disorders such as depression, addiction, and chronic pain are treatment-resistant. In fact, about 30% of all major depression patients do not respond at all to any medication or psychotherapy. Simply put, many traditional forms of treatment for these disorders may have reached their limit. Where do we go from here? Research to be published in Nature Biomedical Engineering led by Maryam Shanechi, the Andrew…

Nearly pain-free microneedle patch can test for antibodies and more in the fluid between cells. Blood draws are no fun. They hurt. Veins can burst, or even roll — like they’re trying to avoid the needle, too. Oftentimes, doctors use blood samples to check for biomarkers of disease: antibodies that signal a viral or bacterial infection, such as SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, or cytokines indicative of inflammation seen…

A researcher from the Institute of Industrial Science at The University of Tokyo has demonstrated a novel method for recharging sterilized N95 masks so that they can be reused. By exposing the masks to 100 kilovolts for 3 minutes after sterilization in hot water or an autoclave, they regained their static charge. This work can be rapidly applied to help meet the huge demand for protective equipment that can prevent…

A stretchable system that can harvest energy from human breathing and motion for use in wearable health-monitoring devices may be possible, according to an international team of researchers, led by Huanyu “Larry” Cheng, Dorothy Quiggle Career Development Professor in Penn State’s Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics. The research team, with members from Penn State and Minjiang University and Nanjing University, both in China, recently published its results in Nano…

A mathematical model that can help project the contagiousness and spread of infectious diseases like the seasonal flu may not be the best way to predict the continuing spread of the novel coronavirus, especially during lockdowns that alter the normal mix of the population, researchers report. Called the R-naught, or basic reproductive number, the model predicts the average number of susceptible people who will be infected by one infectious person….

A new global analysis led by Imperial College London, and published in journal The Lancet, has assessed the height and weight of school-aged children and adolescents across the world. The study, which used data from 65 million children aged five to 19 years old in 193 countries, revealed that school-aged children’s height and weight, which are indicators of their health and quality of their diet, vary enormously around the world….

Method measures naturally occurring electron transfers. Bacterial infections have become one of the biggest health problems worldwide, and a recent study shows that COVID-19 patients have a much greater chance of acquiring secondary bacterial infections, which significantly increases the mortality rate. Combatting the infections is no easy task, though. When antibiotics are carelessly and excessively prescribed, that leads to the rapid emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant genes in bacteria —…