A team of engineers from MIT and the Technical University of Munich have designed an ultra-thin glucose fuel cell that converts the sugar directly into electricity. Just 400 nanometres thick, the device generates about 43 microwatts per square centimetre, the highest power density of any glucose fuel cell to date under ambient conditions. The new device is also resilient, … [Read more...] about New ultra-thin fuel cell could use the body’s own glucose to power implants
Medical
Engineers take inspiration from nature to create strong, lightweight new materials
A team of Princeton University and Georgia Tech researchers has created a new type of porous structure, designed to mimic bone, wood and other natural materials, that is lighter than traditional products and can be strategically inserted into products to provide increased stiffness in areas with high demand. The structures feature spinodal microstructures – networks of … [Read more...] about Engineers take inspiration from nature to create strong, lightweight new materials
MIT engineers develop ‘surgical duct tape’
A team of engineers at MIT, the Mayo Clinic and the Southern University of Science and Technology has developed a strong, flexible, and biocompatible sticky patch that can be easily and quickly applied to biological tissues and organs to help seal tears and wounds – effectively surgical duct tape. Like duct tape, the new patch is sticky on one side and smooth on the other. In … [Read more...] about MIT engineers develop ‘surgical duct tape’
Engineers develop a flexible robot that can move through the lung’s narrow tubes
A team of engineers and scientists based at the STORM Lab at the University of Leeds has developed a proof of concept for a robot that can reach some of the smallest bronchial tubes in the lungs in order to take tissue samples or deliver cancer therapy. Known as a magnetic tentacle robot, it measures just two millimetres in diameter and will be guided into place from outside … [Read more...] about Engineers develop a flexible robot that can move through the lung’s narrow tubes
Unique new Yale master’s programme will combine surgery and engineering
Yale School of Medicine and Yale School of Engineering and Applied Science in New Haven, Connecticut have launched a new master’s programme that combines engineering with personalised patient care. In modern orthopaedic surgery, medical devices and surgical approaches designed specifically for a patient’s anatomy are linked to lower costs and better quality of life. With … [Read more...] about Unique new Yale master’s programme will combine surgery and engineering