Browse Articles

Small-scale wireless soft robotic devices are promising tools for various medical applications. This Review outlines safety, navigation and functionality challenges, as well as the ethical and regulatory considerations that remain to be addressed for their clinical translation.

The Navion, a clinical-scale electromagnetic navigation system, is the result of over 20 years of development. Its motivation began in 2003 with the goal of controlling the motion of magnetic microrobots; however, its first clinical use is proving to be for guiding magnetic catheters, guidewires and endoscopes.

An article in Nature reports a leadless photoelectrochemical device that exploits a new type of diode junction to regulate heartbeats by light.

An article in Nature Communications reports the development of cultured meat with organoleptic properties by regulating the differentiation of stem cells to produce muscle and fat blocks.

Harnessing the potential of microbiota analysis creates new opportunities in diagnosing diseases, improving treatment efficacy, reducing treatment complications and preventing disease recurrence. However, microbiota analysis has not yet been integrated into clinical management workflows. Here, we discuss crucial characteristics of microbiota analysis systems for clinical translation.

Traditional urinalysis relies on endogenous biomarkers, which have limited diagnostic sensitivity and specificity. This Review discusses molecular optical probes that interact with disease biomarkers in vivo and produce artificial urinary biomarkers, which are excreted into urine for remote urinalysis.

An article in Nature Communications reports a battery-free, self-powered pacemaker for long-time treatment of arrhythmia.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are reshaping antibiotic discovery. In this Review, ML approaches that have been and can be used to address issues hindering antimicrobial peptide identification and development are surveyed.

Mechanoneural interfaces combine surgically modified soft tissues and artificial components to enhance peripheral neural signalling for the reconstruction of bionic limbs. This Review discusses different mechanoneural interface architectures and presents preclinical and clinical evidence of their afferent and efferent properties.

An article in Nature Biotechnology reports flexible kirigami-based electronics that allow the non-invasive and long-term recording of electrical activity in neural organoids.

The struggle of establishing a successful academic career while starting a family drives many researchers, in particular, women, out of academia. Pausing the academic clock and individualizing performance assessment may thus help reduce gender inequalities in academia.

Open-source design of medical devices, following the concept of frugal engineering, provides unrestricted descriptions of technical details, allowing the low-cost and local fabrication of devices to reduce global inequities in healthcare.

Combining the precision of CRISPR’s DNA searching ability with the speed and scalability of electronics, we have developed an ‘electronic DNA search engine’, called a CRISPR–Chip, which not only enables DNA detection without amplification, but also showcases the untapped potential of merging molecular biology with nanomaterial electronics. Here, we discuss highlights and challenges on the journey from the initial idea to the commercialization of the CRISPR–Chip.

The mechanisms of nanoparticle delivery to solid tumours guide the engineering of nanoparticles for cancer applications. This Review discusses two contrasting nanoparticle delivery mechanisms, the enhanced permeability and retention effect and the active transport and retention principle, and their implications for the design of cancer nanomedicines.

The current drug development pipeline is time-consuming, costly and inefficient. To better model interactions between pharmaceuticals and human physiology and, thus, increase the likelihood of drug success in clinical trials, the effect of pharmacokinetic drug profiles on cellular behaviour should be tested early in drug development.

An article in Nature Medicine reports soft robotic apparel that improves walking and alleviates freezing of gait associated with Parkinson’s disease.

An article in Nature Communications reports an injectable hydrogel electrode to stimulate and restore the native pacing of the heart.

This Review discusses how biomaterials might enhance the production and delivery of adoptive cell therapies for cancer and other diseases. Eckman et al. emphasize fundamental material and biochemical properties that enable the development of timely, safe and effective therapies.

Fibrotic disease can affect almost all organs, and only few therapies currently exist for the treatment of fibrosis. This Review discusses the contribution of mechanical forces to the onset and progression of fibrosis, highlighting distinct mechanotransduction mechanisms as well as engineered models and therapeutic approaches targeting mechanotransduction pathways for the investigation and treatment of fibrosis, respectively.

Bioplastics are yet to replace commodity plastics. In this Review, we address the barriers faced by bioplastics to obtaining standard labels and certificates and we propose pre-screening methods to optimize these processes. Challenges in production, consumption and disposal are also discussed.