Overcoming Cardiovascular disease with a Magnetically-Steerable Guidewire Microrobot

Concept map of attachable guidewire microrobot developed by Professor Hongsoo Choi ‘s team in the Department of Robotics Engineering at DGIST.
Credit: Copyright DGIST

DGIST research team succeeded in developing a microrobot that can reach the accurate location of cardiovascular disease such as the Chronic Total Occlusion by moving and steering the microrobot towards a desired direction inside complicated blood vessels. This research is expected to increase the success rate of treatment and shorten the time of cardiovascular disease surgery.

DGIST announced on February 27 that Professor Hongsoo Choi’s team in the Robotics Engineering Department developed the ‘Magnetically Controlled Microrobot’ that can enhance the success rate of CTO treatment among myocardial infarctions through a...

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Asteroids are Stronger, Harder to Destroy than previously thought

This is a frame-by-frame showing how gravity causes asteroid fragments to reaccumulate in the hours following impact.
Credit: Charles El Mir/Johns Hopkins University

A popular theme in the movies is that of an incoming asteroid that could extinguish life on the planet, and our heroes are launched into space to blow it up. But incoming asteroids may be harder to break than scientists previously thought, finds a Johns Hopkins study that used a new understanding of rock fracture and a new computer modeling method to simulate asteroid collisions.

The findings, to be published in the March 15 print issue of Icarus, can aid in the creation of asteroid impact and deflection strategies, increase understanding of solar system formation and help design asteroid mining efforts.

“We used to believ...

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Dental Fillings could Last Twice as Long

Carmem Pfeifer, D.D.S., Ph.D. from the OHSU School of Dentistry is working to develop a filling material that is two times more resistant to breakage than standard fillings.
Credit: OHSU/Kristyna Wentz-Graff

New material could mean fewer trips to the dentist’s office, scientists report. A compound used to make car bumpers strong and protect wood decks could prevent return visits to the dentist’s office. A team of researchers with the OHSU School of Dentistry in Portland, Oregon, have created a filling material that’s two times more resistant to breakage than standard fillings, according to a study published by the journal Scientific Reports. The new filling uses the additive thiourethane, which is also in protective coatings for cars and decks.

The team also has developed an adhesi...

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Concept of the Laser can be Reversed

Fig. 1

Experimental setup of the random anti-laser.

Scientists have found a way to build the ‘opposite’ of a laser – a device that absorbs a specific light wave perfectly. This can be done even in complicated systems, in which waves are scattered randomly, and has many technological applications.

At TU Wien (Vienna), a method has now been developed to make use of this effect, even in very complicated systems in which light waves are randomly scattered in all directions. The method was developed in Vienna with the help of computer simulations, and confirmed by experiments in cooperation with the University of Nice. This opens up new possibilities for all technical disciplines that have to do with wave phenomena. The new method has now been published in the journal Nature.

“Every day we are de...

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