For millions of people in the United States, being attached to a kidney dialysis machine for hours on end, multiple times per week is reality. Researchers working to restore some normalcy for kidney dialysis patients, by developing a wearable system that would give them freedom of movement, are encouraged by a new finding about a material that could vastly reduce the size of the blood filtration system.
Drexel University
Medical device startup picks MXene filter materials for artificial kidney
Nephria Bio plans to use Drexel’s MXene filter materials in its wearable artificial kidney technology.
Drexel University’s MXene material is one step closer to transforming the lives of people suffering from end-stage kidney disease. Nephria Bio Inc., a U.S.-based spin-off of the South Korean medical device company EOFlow Co. Ltd., has signed a licensing agreement with the University to use the two-dimensional material, discovered at Drexel, as a filter in a wearable artificial kidney d
Farrin Abbott
Ankle exoskeleton enables faster walking
The exoskeleton is externally powered by motors and controlled by an algorithm, and when optimized for speed, participants walked, on average, 42% faster.
Being unable to walk quickly can be frustrating and problematic, but it’s a common issue, especially as people age. Noting the pervasiveness of slower-than-desired walking, engineers at Stanford University have tested how well a prototype exoskeleton system they have developed – which attaches around the shin and into a running shoe – increased the self-selected walking speed of people in an experimental setting.
The exoskeleton is externally powered by motors and controlled by an algorithm. When the researchers optimized it for speed, participants walked, on average, 42% faster than when they were wearing normal shoes and no exoskeleton. The results of this study were published April 20 in
Courtesy of the researchers
Lobster’s underbelly mimicked; could lead to artificial tendons, ligaments
Synthetic gelatin-like material mimics lobster underbelly’s stretch and strength; the membrane’s structure could provide a blueprint for robust artificial tissues.
A lobster’s underbelly is lined with a thin, translucent membrane that is both stretchy and surprisingly tough. This marine under-armor, as
MIT engineers reported in 2019, is made from the toughest known hydrogel in nature, which also happens to be highly flexible. This combination of strength and stretch helps shield a lobster as it scrabbles across the seafloor, while also allowing it to flex back and forth to swim.
Our NanoNews Digest Sponsors
Home > Press > Synthetic gelatin-like material mimics lobster underbellys stretch and strength: The membranes structure could provide a blueprint for robust artificial tissues
An MIT team has fabricated a hydrogel-based material that mimics the structure of the lobsters underbelly, the toughest known hydrogel found in nature.
Credits:Courtesy of the researchers
Abstract:
A lobsters underbelly is lined with a thin, translucent membrane that is both stretchy and surprisingly tough. This marine under-armor, as MIT engineers reported in 2019, is made from the toughest known hydrogel in nature, which also happens to be highly flexible. This combination of strength and stretch helps shield a lobster as it scrabbles across the seafloor, while also allowing it to flex back and forth to swim.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
A lobster’s underbelly is lined with a thin, translucent membrane that is both stretchy and surprisingly tough. This marine under-armor, as MIT engineers reported in 2019, is made from the toughest known hydrogel in nature, which also happens to be highly flexible. This combination of strength and stretch helps shield a lobster as it scrabbles across the seafloor, while also allowing it to flex back and forth to swim.
Now a separate MIT team has fabricated a hydrogel-based material that mimics the structure of the lobster’s underbelly. The researchers ran the material through a battery of stretch and impact tests, and showed that, similar to the lobster underbelly, the synthetic material is remarkably “fatigue-resistant,” able to withstand repeated stretches and strains without tearing.