Medical Design Briefs - February 2022 - 17

Needle-Free Device Collects
Blood Samples
Skin Sensors Monitor Health
New skin-sensing wearables for
The device is a needle-free, painless,
and easy-to-use method for
collecting blood samples. (Credit:
Loop Medical)
A new technology offers a needle-free,
painless and easy-to-use
method for collecting blood samples.
The device allows blood
samples to be taken in a minimally
invasive, painless way. Once
positioned on a patient's upper
arm, it enhances capillary blood
flow just beneath the skin
through a combination of patented
skin vasodilation and micro-incision technology. The sampling
process takes only a few minutes.
Another advantage of the new system is that it can be used
by professionals, but also by patients themselves, right in their
own homes. They simply need to push a button to withdraw 1
mL of blood at a time, which is a quantity large enough to be
compatible with the high-throughput blood analyzers used in
major laboratories. They can then send their samples to a laboratory
for analysis through a special shipping procedure.
The system delivers blood samples of the same quality as
those obtained through standard venipuncture. In addition,
there is less risk of hemolysis, or red blood cell destruction, as
well as reduced interstitial fluid contamination..
For more information, visit www.medicaldesignbriefs.com/
roundup/0222/blood.
Machine Learning
Advances Personalized
Medicine
Machine learning techniques can
offer powerful new tools for advancing
personalized medicine. (Credit:
Oregon State University)
A new study shows that
machine learning techniques
can offer powerful new tools
for advancing personalized
medicine. The research tackles
long-unsolvable problems
in biological systems at the
cellular level. The new re -
search is one of the first examples of using machine learning to
address issues with modeling nonlinear systems and understanding
complex processes that might occur in human tissues.
In modeling cellular activity within an organ, it is not possible
to individually model each cell in that organ - a cubic centimeter
of tissue may contain a billion cells - so researchers
rely on what's known as upscaling. Upscaling seeks to decrease
the data required to analyze or model a particular biological
process while maintaining the fidelity - the degree to which a
model accurately reproduces something - of the core biology,
chemistry, and physics occurring at the cellular level.
By reducing the information load for a very complicated system
at the cellular level, researchers can better analyze and
model the impact or response of those cells with high fidelity
without having to model each individual one. Wood describes
it as " simplifying a computational problem that has tens of
millions of data points by reducing it to thousands of data
points. "
For more information, visit www.medicaldesignbriefs.com/
roundup/0222/machine-learning.
Medical Design Briefs, February 2022
Cov
A 3D printed lightweight robust
knee brace for the elderly.
(Credit: Nanyang Technological
University)
The sensor measures a broad
range of pressure signals.
(Credit: Terasaki Institute)
pressure-sensing applications use a
solutions-based method to coat
copper nanowires with graphene
oxide (GO); validation tests confirmed
that this method imparted a
uniform, strongly bonded GO layer
onto the nanowires, which effectively
protected them against corrosion
without sacrificing their conductive properties. Furthermore,
the method allowed for variation of GO coating thickness by
adjusting the reaction time or the amount of GO added.
The team devised a method of molding an elastic polymeric
substrate layer onto a sheet of sandpaper to imprint the sandpaper's
rough texture onto the substrate's surface. The substrate
was then treated chemically to enhance its bonding to
the nanowires. Next, a suspension of the GO-coated copper
nanowires was sprayed onto the substrate and thermally treated
to chemically reduce, or lower the oxidation state, of the
GO to strengthen the adhesion between the layers.
Mechanical experiments with the reduced GO-coated copper
nanowires (CurGONW) PS were conducted, with various compression
stress levels and rates tested. Because of the elasticity
and fast response times of the sensor, it exhibited overall stable
resistance measurements maintained over 1000 stress cycles.
The team has fabricated an effective piezoresistive pressure
sensor using low-cost, simple, scalable, tunable, and modular
methods. Due to the novel skin-inspired microstructure of its
substrate layer, the sensor was able to measure a broad range
of pressure signals with accuracy and high sensitivity.
For more information, visit www.medicaldesignbriefs.com/
roundup/0222/sensors.
3D Printed Lightweight
Knee Brace
Researchers have developed a
lighter, yet more robust knee
brace for the elderly who suffer
from knee problems. Using 3D
printing techniques, the team
has managed to reduce the
weight of a traditional exoskeleton
knee brace (typically built
using metal) by 30 percent,
thanks to an innovative design that uses lightweight plastic and
assistive springs.
Based on a prototype assistive orthopedic brace, researchers
developed X-Brace, which looks similar to the sleek knee brace
used by Batman in the movie The Dark Knight Rises.
This designed-in-Singapore knee brace, which has just been
launched in the market, will benefit elderly patients who often
need help to alleviate the burden on their joints, helping them
to climb stairs, unlike the rest of the knee braces in the regional
market. It can also benefit patients who have undergone
knee replacement surgery or reconstruction of torn ligaments
in their rehabilitation and recovery.
For more information, visit www.medicaldesignbriefs.com/
roundup/0222/brace.
www.medicaldesignbriefs.com
ToC
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http://www.medicaldesignbriefs.com/roundup/0222/blood http://www.medicaldesignbriefs.com/roundup/0222/sensors http://www.medicaldesignbriefs.com/roundup/0222/machine-learning http://www.medicaldesignbriefs.com/roundup/0222/brace http://www.medicaldesignbriefs.com
Medical Design Briefs - February 2022

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