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2022

Tattoo-like Sensors Reveal Blood Oxygen Levels

Engineers have invented a silk-based material that when placed under the skin that glows brighter or dimmer under a lamp when exposed to different levels of oxygen in the blood. The novel sensor, which currently is limited to reading oxygen levels, is made up of a gel formed from the protein components of silk, called fibroin. The silk fibroin proteins have unique properties that make them especially compatible as an implantable material.

Silk's Unique Properties Present Possibilities for Future Technologies

Silk makes an important biomaterial, because it does not generate an immune response in humans and promotes the growth of cells. It has been used in drug delivery, and because the material is flexible and has favorable technological properties, it is ideal for wearable and implantable health monitoring sensors.

2021

First Living Robots That can Reproduce

Scientists have discovered an entirely new form of biological reproduction—and applied their discovery to create the first-ever, self-replicating living robots.

Electronic Skin Patches 2021-2031

IDTechEx Report:

Scientists Create the Next Generation of Living Robots

Last year, a team of biologists and computer scientists created novel, tiny self-healing biological machines from frog cells called "Xenobots" that could move around, push a payload, and even exhibit collective behavior in the presence of a swarm of other Xenobots. The same team has now created life forms that self-assemble a body from single cells, do not require muscle cells to move, and even demonstrate the capability of recordable memory.

CRISPR Treatment Cuts Cholesterol in Mice by Up to 57% in one Shot

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.

Threads That Sense How and When You Move? New Tech Makes It Possible

Engineers created thread sensors that can be attached to skin to measure movement in real time, with potential implications for tracking health and performance.

2020

Bioelectronic Device Achieves Unprecedented Control of Cell Membrane

In an impressive proof-of-concept demonstration, an interdisciplinary team of scientists has developed a bioelectronic system driven by a machine learning algorithm that can shift the membrane voltage in living cells and maintain it at a set point for 10 hours.

Smart Fabrics From Bioactive Inks

Researchers have developed biomaterial-based inks that respond to and quantify chemicals released from the body (e.g. in sweat and potentially other biofluids) or in the surrounding environment by changing color. The inks can be screen printed onto textiles such as clothes, shoes, or even face masks in complex patterns and at high resolution, providing a detailed map of human response or exposure.

Microwaves Power New Technology for Batteries, Energy

New battery technology involving microwaves may provide an avenue for renewable energy conversion and storage.

The First Living Robots

A book is made of wood. But it is not a tree. The dead cells have been repurposed to serve another need. Now a team of scientists has repurposed living cells—scraped from frog embryos—and assembled them into entirely new life-forms. These millimeter-wide "xenobots" can move toward a target, perhaps pick up a payload (like a medicine that needs to be carried to a specific place inside a patient)—and heal themselves after being cut.

Bioelectric Stimulation to Clear Skin Lesions

The delivery of ultrashort pulses of electrical energy represents a promising nonthermal, nonscarring method of inducing regulated cell death in common skin lesions.

2019

Molecular Diagnostics 2020-2030

IDTechEx Report:

Noninvasive neuromodulation to treat obesity

Novel approaches that have been tested to treat obesity include noninvasive neuromodulation techniques such as transcranial direct current stimulation. Studies performed to date have suggested that this method does in fact help reduce appetite, food intake and body weight, but only in some subjects.

Advanced Wound Care Technologies 2020-2030

IDTechEx Report: Dr Nadia Tsao

Flexible electronics and smart bandages are key to cost savings

Flexible electronics and smart bandages are key to cost savings in the future of advanced wound care. Advanced wounds, referring to those that are non-healing for more than 4 weeks, are on the rise around the world. This is because there are an increasing number of people with poor wound healing ability, including the rising number of elderly people over 65 years of age, and the rising number of people with Type 2 diabetes.

That's "sew" smart! Threads to detect gases

Equipment- and training-free textile detectors could be used in public health, workplace safety, military and rescue applications

Researchers 3D print metamaterials with novel optical properties

A team of engineers has developed a series of 3D printed metamaterials with unique microwave or optical properties that go beyond what is possible using conventional optical or electronic materials.

2018

Wearable bioreactor induced partial limb regeneration

Researchers have found that delivering progesterone to an amputation injury site can induce the regeneration of limbs in otherwise non-regenerative adult frogs—a discovery that furthers understanding of regeneration and could help advance treatment of amputation injuries.

Growing functioning human neural networks in 3D from stem cells

A team of researchers has developed three-dimensional human tissue culture models for the central nervous system that mimic structural and functional features of the brain and demonstrate neural activity sustained over a period of many months.