Featured
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Article
| Open Access
Adhesive anti-fibrotic interfaces on diverse organs
A study shows that implants with an adhesive implant–tissue interface mitigate the formation of a fibrous capsule when attached to various organs in mice, rats and pigs.
- Jingjing Wu
- , Jue Deng
- & Xuanhe Zhao
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Article |
A three-dimensional liquid diode for soft, integrated permeable electronics
Incorporation of a ‘liquid diode’ into a wearable electronic platform enhances comfort and stability by shunting away sweat as it accumulates.
- Binbin Zhang
- , Jiyu Li
- & Xinge Yu
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Article |
A patterned human neural tube model using microfluidic gradients
Newly developed microfluidic neural tube-like and forebrain-like structures based on human pluripotent stem cells can model pivotal aspects of neural patterning along both the rostral–caudal and dorsal–ventral axes.
- Xufeng Xue
- , Yung Su Kim
- & Jianping Fu
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Article |
Monolithic silicon for high spatiotemporal translational photostimulation
A silicon-based electrode system is described that allows tunable spatiotemporal photostimulation of cardiac systems, with the optoelectronic capabilities of these devices being demonstrated in mouse, rat and pig heart models.
- Pengju Li
- , Jing Zhang
- & Bozhi Tian
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Article |
Water-responsive supercontractile polymer films for bioelectronic interfaces
Water-responsive supercontractile polymer films composed of poly(ethylene oxide) and poly(ethylene glycol)-α-cyclodextrin inclusion complex contract by more than 50% of their original length within seconds after wetting and become soft and stretchable hydrogel thin films that can be used in bioelectronic interfaces.
- Junqi Yi
- , Guijin Zou
- & Xiaodong Chen
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Article |
Injectable tissue prosthesis for instantaneous closed-loop rehabilitation
An injectable hydrogel for use as a scaffold to aid tissue repair is described, the material of which is conductive so that it can be used both for electrophysiological measurement and electrostimulation in closed-loop robot-assisted rehabilitation.
- Subin Jin
- , Heewon Choi
- & Mikyung Shin
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Article
| Open Access
A microscale soft ionic power source modulates neuronal network activity
A study describes the development of a miniaturized hydrogel-based soft power source capable of modulating the activity of networks of neuronal cells without the need for metal electrodes.
- Yujia Zhang
- , Jorin Riexinger
- & Hagan Bayley
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Article |
Ferrobotic swarms enable accessible and adaptable automated viral testing
A handheld printed circuit board-based programmable platform using ferrobots can perform the complex, laboratory-equivalent procedures involved in multiplexed and pooled nucleic acid amplification testing, allowing for the decentralization of viral diagnostics.
- Haisong Lin
- , Wenzhuo Yu
- & Sam Emaminejad
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Article
| Open Access
Personalizing exoskeleton assistance while walking in the real world
A portable ankle exoskeleton uses a data-driven method and wearable sensors to adapt to the user as they walk in a natural setting.
- Patrick Slade
- , Mykel J. Kochenderfer
- & Steven H. Collins
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Article |
Microfluidic chain reaction of structurally programmed capillary flow events
Microfluidic chain reactions encode programs structurally in situ, and can form a frugal, versatile, bona fide lab-on-a-chip with wide-ranging applications in liquid handling and point-of-care diagnostics
- Mohamed Yafia
- , Oriol Ymbern
- & David Juncker
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Article |
Spin-enhanced nanodiamond biosensing for ultrasensitive diagnostics
Lateral-flow in vitro diagnostic assays based on fluorescent nanodiamonds, in which microwave-based spin manipulation is used to increase sensitivity, are demonstrated using the biotin–avidin model and by the single-copy detection of HIV-1 RNA.
- Benjamin S. Miller
- , Léonard Bezinge
- & Rachel A. McKendry
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Article |
Homeostatic mini-intestines through scaffold-guided organoid morphogenesis
Miniature gut tubes grown in vitro from mouse intestinal stem cells are perfusable, can be colonized with microorganisms and exhibit a similar arrangement and diversity of specialized cell types to intestines in vivo.
- Mikhail Nikolaev
- , Olga Mitrofanova
- & Matthias P. Lutolf
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Article |
Skin-integrated wireless haptic interfaces for virtual and augmented reality
Interfaces for epidermal virtual reality technology are demonstrated that can communicate by programmable patterns of localized mechanical vibrations.
- Xinge Yu
- , Zhaoqian Xie
- & John A. Rogers
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Article |
Dry double-sided tape for adhesion of wet tissues and devices
A new strong, biocompatible and biodegradable double-sided tape can adhere to wet tissues and devices through a mechanism involving rapid water removal from the surface, swift hydrogen and electrostatic interactions, and covalent bonding.
- Hyunwoo Yuk
- , Claudia E. Varela
- & Xuanhe Zhao
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Letter |
Molecular control of macroscopic forces drives formation of the vertebrate hindgut
Cell-labelling experiments are used to demonstrate that the hindgut in the chick embryo is formed by cells moving through the stationary caudal intestinal portal as a result of a contractile force gradient directed by fibroblast growth factor signalling.
- Nandan L. Nerurkar
- , ChangHee Lee
- & Clifford J. Tabin
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Letter |
A wireless closed-loop system for optogenetic peripheral neuromodulation
A closed-loop implantable bioelectronic device that can modulate peripheral neuronal activity is used to improve bladder function in a rat model of cystitis.
- Aaron D. Mickle
- , Sang Min Won
- & John A. Rogers
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Review Article |
Bioengineering strategies to accelerate stem cell therapeutics
- Christopher M. Madl
- , Sarah C. Heilshorn
- & Helen M. Blau
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Letter |
Advanced maturation of human cardiac tissue grown from pluripotent stem cells
A tissue culture system that provides an increasing intensity of electromechanical stimulation over time enables an in vitro model of cardiac tissue derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells to develop many of the characteristics of adult cardiac tissue.
- Kacey Ronaldson-Bouchard
- , Stephen P. Ma
- & Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic
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Letter |
Small-scale soft-bodied robot with multimodal locomotion
A tiny soft-bodied robot is described that can be magnetically actuated to swim, climb, roll, walk and jump, while carrying a load.
- Wenqi Hu
- , Guo Zhan Lum
- & Metin Sitti
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Inside View |
Inside View: Pfizer
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Letter |
Bioresorbable silicon electronic sensors for the brain
Electronic implants are often used in diagnosing and treating human illness, but permanent implants come with problems; here, devices are described that can sense temperature, pressure, pH or thermal characteristics, and—crucially—are fully resorbable by the body.
- Seung-Kyun Kang
- , Rory K. J. Murphy
- & John A. Rogers
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Letter |
Ultrafast ultrasound localization microscopy for deep super-resolution vascular imaging
Conventional clinical ultrasound imaging has, at best, sub-millimetre-scale resolution, but now a new ultrasound technique is demonstrated that is based on fast tracking of transient signals from a sub-wavelength contrast agent and has sufficiently high resolution to map the microvasculature deep into organs.
- Claudia Errico
- , Juliette Pierre
- & Mickael Tanter
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Review Article |
The present and future role of microfluidics in biomedical research
Recent progress in the various lab-on-a-chip microtechnologies is reviewed and the clinical and research areas in which they have made the greatest impact are discussed.
- Eric K. Sackmann
- , Anna L. Fulton
- & David J. Beebe
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Outlook |
Biomedicine: The new gold standard
Prized for their versatility, optical properties and safety, gold nanoparticles are helping to image, diagnose and treat disease.
- Karen Weintraub
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News |
Four-fingered robot can replace flashlight batteries
Bioengineers get a step closer to producing a robotic hand as dexterous as a human's.
- Larry Greenemeier
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News Q&A |
A mindful mentor
Gary Gibbons, the next director of the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, hopes to diversify the biomedical workforce.
- Amy Maxmen
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News |
Injectable implant to help doctors save face
Light-activated polymer may provide non-invasive method of soft-tissue reconstruction.
- George Wigmore
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News |
Flexible LEDs to boost biomedicine
Bendy, waterproof electronics made with conventional semiconductors could be implanted in the body.
- Jon Cartwright
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News & Views |
Muscle mimic
An elastic polymer has been made whose molecular structure mimics that of titin, a protein found in muscle. The resulting material is tough, stretchy and dissipates energy — just like muscle itself.
- Elliot L. Chaikof
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Books & Arts |
Building life from the bottom up
Engineering biological systems and organisms is a costly team effort and may be incompatible with an open-source regulatory environment, finds Michael A. Goldman.
- Michael A. Goldman
Transcranial volumetric imaging using a conformal ultrasound patch