Researchers developed an alginate-based microrobot that can be tracked using Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) and performs real-time localization, selective thermal therapy, and cell delivery. The robot is powered by a single magnetic actuation system independent of conventional medical imaging devices.
A novel hydrogel has been developed to accelerate wound healing in infected wounds by regulating the skin microbiota. The hydrogel, PSG15, inhibited bacterial growth and promoted tissue regeneration, enhancing angiogenesis and collagen deposition.
A new hydrogel patch with dual-sided design offers adjustable, revocable adhesion and anti-adhesive functions for enhanced tissue repair. It reduces inflammation, promotes healing, and allows repositioning during surgical procedures.
Researchers developed a multifunctional hydrogel reinforced with ANFs and MXene, achieving outstanding EMI shielding and wearable sensing performance. The innovative design balances electrical conductivity and effective absorption, addressing long-standing challenges in flexible electronics.
A new study maps the internal behavior of soft materials when deformed, revealing localized fracture events and heterogeneous flows. The findings challenge long-standing assumptions and provide valuable insights for improving manufacturing techniques.
Researchers have developed an innovative ASPIRE cooler that leverages a dual-alignment structure within a hygroscopic hydrogel to achieve high-power passive daytime cooling. The study reveals the potential for this technology to enable sustainable cooling solutions for various applications.
The review highlights the potential of hydrogel electrolytes to create rechargeable zinc-ion batteries that can withstand extreme temperatures, mechanical deformations, and environmental damages. Hydrogel electrolyte technology paves the way for next-generation energy storage devices.
Researchers have developed innovative composite nanotechnology that removes excess nutrients from wastewater, converting them into agricultural fertilizers. The technology reduces ammonia and phosphate concentrations by up to 60% and 91%, respectively, effectively preventing harmful algal blooms and associated toxins.
Scientists replace toxic additives in hydrogels with D-sorbitol, a safe sugar alternative found in chewing gum, to create bioelectronic devices that are soft, safe, and integrated with natural tissue. The new material has increased biocompatibility and improved electronic performance.
Researchers developed a smart hydrogel system that supports the growth of human salivary cells in three-dimensional spheroids. The system enables the formation of large, viable spheroids with high expression of key salivary proteins and demonstrates functional activity.
Researchers from Yokohama National University have developed a method to fabricate complex oriented tissues with multiple directionality using 3D printing. This technique utilizes flow to orient collagen fibers and cells, allowing for the creation of fine, micro-oriented structures in both horizontal and vertical directions.
Researchers at McGill University have developed a new way to create hydrogels using ultrasound, eliminating the need for toxic chemical initiators. The breakthrough offers a faster, cleaner and more sustainable approach to hydrogel fabrication.
A new microscopy method, LICONN, developed by ISTA scientists and Google Research, can reconstruct mammalian brain tissue with all synaptic connections between neurons. This technique uses standard light microscopes and hydrogel to achieve high resolution and opens up possibilities for visualizing complex molecular machinery.
Researchers have developed ionic hydrogel self-powered sensors with sustainable energy supply, converting various external stimuli into electrical signals. The sensors offer unique advantages in structural and performance design due to their excellent flexibility and ease of preparation.
Researchers at MIT have developed a new method to fabricate stretchable ceramics, glass, and metals using a double-network design. This material can stretch over four times its size without breaking, making it suitable for tear-resistant textiles and flexible semiconductors.
Researchers at Zhejiang University developed a novel 3D-printed hydrogel that can easily switch its Young's modulus from kPa to GPa through on-demand crystallization. The hydrogel exhibits a hardness of 86.5 Shore D and a Young's modulus of 1.2 GPa, surpassing current 3D-printed hydrogels.
Researchers at Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) have developed an artificial skin model using a non-swelling hydrogel made from cold-water fish gelatin. The hydrogel can be 3D printed and contains cells, emulating the layered structure of human skin.
Researchers developed an injectable hydrogel containing fish swim bladder components to repair damaged heart tissue, showing enhanced cardiac cell adhesion and stretching. The treatment also promoted new blood vessel formation and reduced inflammation in a rat model of ischemic heart failure.
Jiawei Yang creates bioadhesives with two layers, a transparent solid hydrogel layer and a clear liquid adhesive layer, to provide fast, strong, stable, and deep adhesion in the body. The new bioadhesives have potential applications in treating Parkinson's disease, heart failure, and healing damaged cartilage.
Researchers from TU Graz and Vellore Institute of Technology have developed a 3D-printed skin imitation with living cells to test nanoparticles from cosmetics. The skin imitation mimics human skin's three-layer tissue structure and biomechanics, made possible by hydrogel formulations printed together with living cells.
Aging individuals experience bone loss despite physical activity, highlighting the importance of MSCs in regulating bone mechanoresponse. The new 3D bone marrow analog reveals that trabecular volume affects MSC response to mechanical signals, with higher strains associated with older densities and increased F-actin production
A team of engineers has created a new hydrogel that rapidly switches between soft and hard states, making it ideal for real-time applications such as impact-resistant wearables or soft robots. The 'instant armor' hydrogel achieves this with a high-entropy design that allows rapid recovery in just 28 seconds.
Researchers developed a 3D-printed hydrogel from cow meniscus tissue, customized to individual patient needs, offering a more precise solution for meniscus repairs. The treatment aims to outperform current methods, which often result in poor healing.
Researchers identified a Y chromosome-linked gene, UTY, as a key driver of valve calcification in males. In females, fibrotic tissue formation stiffens the valve, leading to different disease progression. The study highlights the importance of sex-based mechanisms in heart valve disease
MIT engineers have developed a way to grow artificial muscles that twitch and flex in multiple coordinated directions. This breakthrough allows for the creation of soft, wiggly robots with enhanced flexibility and range of motion.
Binghamton University researchers have created a hydrogel electrode that includes conductive carbon nanotubes to monitor nerve activity in spinal cord neurons and leg muscles in mice. The technology solves the problem of rigid materials causing damage during movement, allowing for long-term functionality and single-cell signal detection.
A new hydrogel material combines toughness, electrical conductivity, and environmental sustainability, offering a promising solution for flexible electronics. The hydrogel exhibits exceptional mechanical properties and antibacterial properties, making it suitable for applications in strain sensors and supercapacitors.
Researchers have developed ExPOSE, a method that allows for the visualization of plant cells with greater resolution, enabling studies on protein and RNA location, and cellular response. The technique uses protoplasts to overcome cell wall challenges, paving the way for a powerful new toolkit in plant biology.
A team of researchers from Aalto University developed a hydrogel with a unique structure that combines high stiffness with flexibility and self-healing capabilities. The material uses exceptionally large and ultra-thin specific clay nanosheets, allowing it to self-heal via entanglement.
A Chinese research team has created a single-step femtosecond laser 4D printing technology that enables rapid and precise micro-scale deformation of smart hydrogels. The innovation mimics the hierarchical structure of butterfly wings, promising applications in flexible electronics and minimally invasive medicine.
The study introduces a new way to apply cellulose nanocrystals, resulting in high-strength, reconfigurable, and mechanochromic hydrogels with improved mechanical properties and dynamic color-changing abilities. These materials have potential uses in sustainable bioplastics, flexible electronic substrates, and smart photonic devices.
Researchers at Institute for Chemical Reaction Design and Discovery developed a rapid self-strengthening technology using weak azo bonds in double network hydrogels. This enables the material to rapidly form new polymer networks, increasing its strength upon deformation.
Researchers developed a self-healing hydrogel that can resist cracking and damage quickly. By incorporating sacrificial segments, the material forms new networks to reinforce itself.
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a molecularly functionalized biomass hydrogels system that can pull drinkable water out of thin air. The system uses a two-step molecular engineering process to convert various natural products into sorbents, which can then be heated to release clean water.
Researchers created optimized DNA hydrogels with fewer nucleic acids, achieving efficient and sustained drug release. The new hydrogel units showed prolonged persistence of at least 168 hours post-administration in mice, contributing to anti-tumor effects.
A new nanotechnology-based drug delivery system has been developed to save patients from repeated surgeries. The approach, called Pericelle, uses a paste of nanoparticles containing hydrogel on transplanted veins to prevent blockages, which can lead to repeated surgeries in heart and dialysis patients.
Researchers at Terasaki Institute develop lipopeptide hydrogels to deliver peptide-based cancer vaccines, demonstrating sustained release and enhanced immune cell uptake. The system shows promise in overcoming limitations of traditional peptide-based vaccines.
Researchers have developed an injectable hydrogel that targets rapid localized increase in bone density. The results show a four- to five-fold increase in bone density in the legs of rats with bone loss. The study combines systemic osteoporosis drugs with local hydrogel injections, offering hope for future fracture prevention therapies.
Researchers develop strategies to address mechanical and electrical properties, implantation, and multimodal functionality in hydrogel-based bioelectronics. The team explores conductive polymers, stimuli-responsive hydrogels, and wearable/implantable devices to create seamless human-body interfaces.
Researchers at POSTECH developed an innovative injectable adhesive hydrogel that regenerates bone using harmless visible light. The hydrogel addresses limitations of existing treatments by simultaneously achieving cross-linking and mineralization without separate bone grafts or adhesives.
Researchers at Caltech developed bioresorbable acoustic microrobots that can deliver therapeutics to specific sites within the body, decreasing bladder tumor size in mice. The microrobots use magnetic nanoparticles for precise targeting and are designed to be biocompatible and absorbable.
Researchers developed a new hydrogel that quickly neutralizes harmful acids and stabilizes waterlogged wood from shipwrecks. The gel is designed to disperse acid- and microbe-fighting compounds through the wood, gradually dissolving over time to avoid surface damage.
Researchers from UniSA have developed a simple strategy to increase seawater evaporation rates, making desalination more energy-efficient and sustainable. By introducing clay minerals into a photothermal hydrogel evaporator, they achieved a 18.8% higher evaporation rate for seawater compared to pure water.
Researchers from Tokyo University of Science have developed a novel gelation method using carbon dioxide to form hydrogels. The post-gelation release rate affects the degree of crosslinking and mechanical properties, providing insights for creating hydrogels suitable for medical applications.
The study presents a lignin-based hydrogel that combines mechanical strength with bioactivity, promoting wound healing and sustained drug release. The hydrogel's controlled-release properties make it an ideal candidate for treating complex wounds and reducing medication side effects.
Researchers design bioinspired hydrogels that mimic plant photosynthesis for clean hydrogen energy production. The study achieves significant boosts in the activity of water-splitting processes and produces more hydrogen compared to older techniques.
Researchers at EPFL have developed the e-Flower, a flower-shaped 3D microelectrode array that enables real-time recording of neural activity from 3D neural spheroids. This breakthrough technology allows for more accurate and gentle monitoring of brain cells, paving the way for further research on brain organoids.
Liquid-based electronic materials offer inherent flexibility and conformability, mitigating mechanical mismatches between human tissues and electronic devices. These materials have been demonstrated in various applications such as strain sensors, touch sensors, implantable stimulators, encapsulation solutions, and adhesives.
Researchers have developed a novel method to fabricate high-performance macrofibers with exceptional mechanical properties and humidity response using the TAT technique. The resulting fibers exhibit record tensile strength and rapid actuation in response to environmental moisture, making them ideal for various industries.
Researchers at Michigan Medicine develop a composite hydrogel capable of steady, sustained drug release using ultrasound as a trigger. The fibrin hydrogel matrix vaporizes an emulsion upon exposure to ultrasound, releasing the encapsulated drug in a zero-order release process, providing consistent levels over time.
A researcher has developed a novel drug delivery system that transports medications to the inner ear to prevent cisplatin-induced hearing loss. The system uses hydrogels and nanoparticles to deliver drugs that block calcium damage or protect hair cells, showing promising results in early-stage studies.
Researchers have developed a semaglutide hydrogel that could reduce diabetes shots to once a month, improving drug adherence and quality of life. The hydrogel's slow release of semaglutide over one month was found to be well-tolerated in laboratory rats with no inflammatory reactions.
Researchers from the University of Leeds and international partners have created an oil-free super-lubricant from potato proteins, achieving near zero friction. The material uses natural protein building blocks with a lower carbon footprint, opening doors for sustainable biomedical applications and low-calorie foods.
Researchers developed a self-healing hydrogel dressing with structural color microspheres that can adhere to wounds under near-infrared irradiation. The composite microspheres promote extracellular matrix deposition, neovascularization, and efficient drug release through visual color changes.
Researchers created a virtual game environment and connected it to hydrogels, which improved their accuracy over time. The hydrogels used 'memory' to learn from previous patterns and improve their gameplay, with an improvement rate of up to 10%.
Researchers at Technical University of Denmark developed a new biopolymer, PAMA, derived from bacteria to heal tissue. The PAMA bactogel shows significant muscle regeneration properties and nearly 100% mechanical recovery in rats.
Scientists created a wearable sensor that can monitor cholesterol and lactate levels on dry skin, enabling early disease detection. The sensor overcomes existing challenges of traditional methods, promising new opportunities for remote patient monitoring and population-wide health screening.
Researchers developed an aspirin-containing hydrogel that mimics the nutrient-rich fluid between cells, accelerating healing of radiation-induced skin injuries in animal models. The new salve could provide rapid wound healing for humans with minimal side effects.
Researchers at City University of Hong Kong announce an advanced sperm selection system that signals a breakthrough in assisted reproduction. The system, called BLASTO-chip, uses microfluidic droplet technology to select live sperm from immotile samples with over 90% accuracy.
Scientists have developed a new way to 3D print materials that are strong enough to support human tissue and vary in shape and size. The breakthrough, known as CLEAR, helps pave the way toward a new generation of biomaterials for personalized implants and tissues.