bioelectronics tagged posts

Researchers have developed a jelly-like material that can withstand the equivalent of an elephant standing on it, and completely recover to its original shape, even though it’s 80% water.

The soft-yet-strong material, developed by a team at the University of Cambridge, looks and feels like a squishy jelly, but acts like an ultra-hard, shatterproof glass when compressed, despite its high water content.

The non-water portion of the material is a network of polymers held together by reversible on/off interactions that control the material’s mechanical properties. This is the first time that such significant resistance to compression has been incorporated into a soft material.

The ‘super jelly’ could be used for a wide range of potential applications, including soft robotics,...

In the field of robotics, metals offer advantages like strength, durability, and electrical conductivity. But, they are heavy and rigid – properties that are undesirable in soft and flexible systems for wearable computing and human-machine interfaces.

Hydrogels, on the other hand, are lightweight, stretchable, and biocompatible, making them excellent materials for contact lenses and tissue engineering scaffolding. They are, however, poor at conducting electricity, which is needed for digital circuits and bioelectronics applications.

Researchers in Carnegie Mellon University’s Soft Machines Lab have developed a unique silver-hydrogel composite that has high electrical conductivity and is capable of delivering direct current w...

Researchers reported developing a cardiac patch made from fully rubbery electronics that can be placed directly on the heart to collect electrophysiological activity, temperature, heartbeat and other indicators, all at the same time.

Pacemakers and other implantable cardiac devices used to monitor and treat arrhythmias and other heart problems have generally had one of two drawbacks — they are made with rigid materials that can’t move to accommodate a beating heart,...

Scientists create electrical protein switches triggered by chemicals. Scientists at Rice University have developed synthetic protein switches to control the flow of electrons.

The proof-of-concept, metal-containing proteins made in the Rice lab of synthetic biologist Joff Silberg are expressed within cells upon the introduction of one chemical and are functionally activated by another chemical. If the proteins have been placed in the cell, they can simply be turned on and off...