How Materials are Shaping Medical Innovation
From e-skin that doesn’t lose sensitivity when it stretches, to a new substrate for implantable tech, materials science is breaking new ground every day. Here are eight recent developments in materials science that are paving the way for innovation in medical technology.
A Leap Forward for Phononics
A new class of synthetic materials could make data transmitting devices, including medical devices, smaller, allowing them to use less power and to need less signal strength. The key is phonons, the physical particles that transmit mechanical vibrations through materials.
Researchers at the University of Arizona’s Wyant College of Optical Sciences and Sandia National Laboratories report having achieved a milestone toward real-world applications of phononics. The researchers combined piezoelectrical materials with specialized semiconductor materials to generate giant nonlinear interactions between phonons. The researchers believe that this could lead to the ability to make smaller, more powerful, and more efficient wireless data transmitting devices.
And this could mean a large leap forward for smartphone medicine and interconnected medical devices.
A Soft Multi-Electrode System for Electroretinography
The increased use of screens, as well as an aging population that is living longer, is resulting in a higher incidence of ocular diseases, making early detection paramount. Electroretinography, that is, taking measurements of the electrical potentials generated by neurons and other cells in the retina from the surface of the cornea, is one of the tools in ophthalmologists’ tool box. The problem is, ERG involves multi-electrode systems built onto hard, uncomfortable contact lenses.
A research team led by Professor Takeo Miyake of the Graduate School of Information, Production and Systems at Waseda University, Japan, has proposed a more comfortable system built on disposable soft contact lenses.
Their process involved immersing the soft contact lens in a solution containing the monomer 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT). Researchers then placed gold mesh electrodes with their respective connecting wires onto the inner surface of the contact lens. By circulating a current through the solution containing EDOT, the monomers formed an entangled polymer called PEDOT, which fixed the gold components to the lens. The resulting multi-electrode system was flexible and highly transparent, just as comfortable as ordinary disposable contact lenses.
A New Substrate for Implantable Tech
Researchers at Penn State University have now found a way to impart handedness to Borophene. Borophene is a version of boron that is thinner, lighter, stronger, more flexible, and more conductive than graphene. Adding chirality enables Borophene to interact in unique ways with cells, protein precursors, and other biological units. Dipanjan Pan, one of the leaders of the study, believes that the study is “the first study to understand the biological interactions of borophene and the first report of imparting chirality on borophene structures."
The researchers believe that Borophene has incredible potential as a substrate for implanted sensors. This could potentially lead to higher resolution medical imagery, more precise tracking of cell interactions, better drug delivery, and safer, more effective implantable medical devices.
E-Skin Advances
Researchers at the University of Texas in Austin have developed a stretchy electronic skin, which could impart human-level touch-sensitivity to robots and other devices. This, in turn, could enable devices to perform precision tasks that require controlled force.
E-skin already exists, however, it loses sensitivity as the material stretches. This is not the case with this new type of e-skin. Researchers envision medical robots clothed in their e-skin, who can massage a patient, take a pulse, and wipe parts of the body. This could help to ease the coming shortage of care workers. Researchers also see potential for disaster response robots, search-and-rescue robots, and first-aid robots who could administer CPR and other care.
Synthetic Terpenes for New Medicines
Terpenes are substances that occur naturally in plants, insects, and sea sponges. Currently, they are used in food flavorings, cosmetic fragrances, and in therapies for epilepsy, malaria, and cancer.
Chemists at the University of Basel have devised a way to synthesize terpenes. Specifically, they have found a way to synthesize Randainin D, which inhibits production of an enzyme that plays a role in cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other conditions. The process involves ring-closing metathesis and photocatalysis, a process in which chemical reactions are promoted by light energy.
Researchers hope that production of synthetic Randainin D could lead to the development of new medicines and therapies.
A Faster, Cheaper 3D Microscope
Researchers at Purdue University are finding ways to make 3D microscopes faster, less expensive to manufacture, and able to capture more images.
According to the researchers, image capture with current 3D microscopes requires users to follow a complicated series of steps, which slows the process down. The Purdue 3D microscope, however, automatically focuses on an object, determines the optimal capture process, and creates a high-quality 3D image. This is accomplished with an ETL, that is, an electronically tunable lens, which changes the focal plane of the imaging system without the need for moving parts. This, according to researchers, makes the Purdue 3D microscope easier to use and less expensive to build.
Purdue is currently seeking an industrial partner to help bring their research out of the laboratory and into production.
New Transparent and Antimicrobial Display Surfaces
A team of researchers from ICFO, ICREA, and Corning have developed a durable, transparent, antimicrobial surface using copper nanoparticles. The surface was able to eliminate more than 99.9 percent of Staphylococcus Aureus on the tested surfaces within two hours. The surface also demonstrated prolonged effectiveness, maintaining its antimicrobial activity even after vigorous wipe-testing. Researchers are hopeful that this could lead to antimicrobial display surfaces for screens, displays, mobile devices, and smartphones.
A Mystery Solved Where Biology Meets Technology
Scientists at the University of Washington have cracked a mystery. Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) allow current to flow in implantable biosensors and other devices, like pacemakers and glucose monitors. When OECTs are switched off, there is no lag in the drop in current. However, there is a lag between the switching on of the OECTs and the point at which the current reaches the desired operational level. Now scientists know why.
Switching off OECTs is a one-step process, however, switching on is a two-step process. First, ions race across the transistor. Then, charge-bearing particles invade the transistor, which brings the current up to the desired level. The difference means that there is a delay between switching on and current flow.
Researchers hope that this discovery will enable the design of new generations of applications for medicine, biosensing, brain-inspired computation, and more.