University of California

New Device Detects Which Hand Gestures You Want to Make

Imagine typing on a computer without a keyboard, playing a video game without a controller or driving a car without a wheel. That's one of the goals of a new device developed by engineers, that can recognize hand gestures based on electrical signals detected in the forearm. The system, which couples wearable biosensors with artificial intelligence, could one day be used to control prosthetics or to interact with almost any type of electronic device.

Novasentis

IDTechEx caught up with Francois Jeanneau, CEO of Novasentis. They are ramping up to another product launch following acquisition from Kemet in 2019.

Xidas

Xidas has developed a proprietary micro-engineering method that relies on bonding patterned sheets of different materials to make micro-mechanical and micro-electronic devices. These include sensors, energy harvesters and miniaturized medical devices. The company primarily targets industrial IoT as an application space.

Nanotech Energy

Nanotech Energy produce graphene-based energy storage devices. IDTechEx spoke with Scott Jacobsen (Director of Business Development).

Flexible, Screen Printed Rechargeable Battery with 10 Times More Power

A team of researchers has developed a flexible, rechargeable silver oxide-zinc battery with a five to 10 times greater areal energy density than state of the art. The battery also is easier to manufacture; while most flexible batteries need to be manufactured in sterile conditions, under vacuum, this one can be screen printed in normal lab conditions. The device can be used in flexible, stretchable electronics for wearables as well as soft robotics.

Earbud Treats Rheumatoid Arthritis, Migraines, Postpartum Depression

Imagine a future in which earbuds could harness the power of the brain to regulate immune function and treat diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, depression, and migraine. Such is the ambition of Nēsos, a startup launching out of stealth today, following months of development. The team is pioneering a new method for the treatment of multiple diseases: via an earbud brain interface, proprietary electrical fields are delivered to the target brain areas that help control immune function.

CRISPR-Based COVID-19 Test Uses Smartphones Cameras to Spot Virus RNA

Identifying and isolating individuals who may be contagious with the coronavirus is key to limiting the spread of the disease. But even months into the pandemic, many patients are still waiting days to receive COVID-19 test results.

A Defect-resistant Superalloy for 3D Printing

In recent years, it has become possible to use laser beams and electron beams to "print" engineering objects that have complex shapes that could not be achieved by conventional manufacturing routes. The additive manufacturing process, known widely as 3D printing, for metallic materials involves melting and fusing fine-scale powder particles — each about ten times finer than a grain of local beach sand — in sub-millimeter-scale "pools" created by focusing a laser or electron beam on the material.

Spotlight Therapeutics $30M Funding for Non-viral CRISPR Gene Editing

Spotlight Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing non-viral gene editing therapeutics for direct in vivo editing of target genes, closed its Series A financing bringing the total raised to $30 million.

Real Graphene

Real Graphene manufacture fast-charging graphene-enabled batteries. IDTechEx spoke with Sam Gong (Founder Real Graphene USA).

New Age Meats

New Age Meats is a Californian start-up developing methods for creating meat using cultured animal cells and plant proteins. At the Cultured Meat Symposium 2020, New Age Meats CEO Bryan Spears discussed his company and the future of meat.

Aleph Farms

Aleph Farms is an Israeli company working to create steaks and other structured meat products from cultured animal cells. At the Cultured Meat Symposium 2020, Neta Lavon, VP of R&D at Aleph Farms, gave an insight into the developments at the company.

Orbillion Bio

Orbillion Bio is a Californian start-up developing techniques for creating cultured meat, meatlike products produced in the lab from cultured animal cells. The company is aiming to develop a large range of animal cell lines to reflect the diversity found in the traditional meat industry.

Artificial Intelligence to Predict Best Approach to Cancer Treatment

Researchers describe a new artificial intelligence system that not only matches tumors to the best drug combinations, but does so in a way that makes sense to humans.

First 3D Printed Aneurysm to Improve Surgical Procedures, Treatments

A research team has become the first to produce a living, bioprinted aneurysm outside of the human body, perform a medical procedure on it and observe it respond and heal as it would in an actual human brain.

Opus 12

Opus 12 is a green technology start-up company developing methods for catalytically converting carbon dioxide into chemicals and fuels, with the aim of reducing the carbon footprints of the world's heaviest emitters while creating a new revenue stream from what is discarded today as a waste product. In October 2020, IDTechEx Senior Technology Analyst Dr Michael Dent spoke with Etosha Cave, COO and co-founder of Opus 12.

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.

2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for CRISPR Development

University of California, Berkeley, biochemist Jennifer Doudna has won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, sharing it with colleague Emmanuelle Charpentier for the co-development of CRISPR-Cas9, a genome editing breakthrough that has revolutionized biomedicine.

Nanotech Energy Launches EMI Shielding Product Line

Advanced Graphene Technology Creates Highly Conductive Coating for EMI-RFI Shielding and Heat Management

Spinal Cord Stimulation Reduces Pain and Motor Symptoms in Parkinson's

A team of researchers reports that spinal cord stimulation measurably decreased pain and reduced motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease, both as a singular therapy and as a "salvage therapy" after deep brain stimulation therapies were ineffective.