MedGadget's MedTech Monday: Flexible rubber sheets to power implantable devices?

February 1, 2010 by MassDevice

Researchers develop tiny silicone rubber sheets with embedded nanorods that generate electricity; a virtual skeleton helps surgeons prep for orthopedic operations; and tiny antennae to help miniaturize implantable devices.

Flexible rubber sheets to power implantable devices?: Princeton and Caltech researchers have developed special silicone rubber sheets with embedded nanorods that, when bent, generate electricity with impressive efficiency. The technology is projected to be used as a power source for implantable devices such as pacemakers, by harnessing energy from moving organs such as the thoracic cage.

TLEMsafe helps surgeons prep for orthopedic operations: Researchers from a European project to develop a virtual model of the human lower musculoskeletal system have unveiled some of the capabilities already created to help surgeons plan for complicated orthopedic procedures. Under the leadership of the University of Twente, the TLEMsafe (Twente Lower Extremity Model) virtual reality system renders individual functional models of legs using patients' own MRI scans. Surgeons can then try out procedures on these virtual models to see what the appropriate course of action should be.

Tiny antennae to help miniaturize implantable devices: The development of wireless in vivo devices demands the ability to actually beam a signal from a small radio transmitter at frequencies compatible with human tissue. But in order to be effective, traditional antennae have to be much larger than is practical for an implant. Scientists at the University of Arizona, with help from National Institute of Standards and Technology and Boeing, have created a tiny antenna that can broadcast at frequencies previously thought to be next to impossible.

Terahertz radiation detector may open new possibilities in imaging: Terahertz radiation has the potential to revolutionize certain aspects of medical imaging, because the energy is non-ionizing and so shouldn't have the side effects of X-rays. (It doesn't penetrate tissue nearly as deep as X-rays, though.) The big problem with putting this technology into practice is the lack of practical detection technology. Now Japanese scientists from the RIKEN Advanced Science Institute in Wako have developed a detector based on a carbon nanotube transistor that can sense small numbers of terahertz frequency photons.

A weekly roundup of new developments in medical technology, by MedGadget.com.