Bioengineering

Students who have ideas for improving health care technology now have a way to make them reality. --by Joe Kullman

"Smart" nanomaterials allow scientists to investigate biological interactions within the body's cells at the molecular level. This could lead to new diagnostic tools and customized therapy and prevention. (part 3 of 3) --by Joe Kullman

ASU bioengineering professors are designing electrical stimulation devices that interact with the nervous system to contract paralyzed muscles. Such devices can help the nervous system recover after devastating spinal cord injury. --by Melissa Crytzer Fry

ASU engineering students are designing and assembling medical devices for disabled villagers in Malawi. --by Joe Kullman

Nanotechnology researchers can be limited by the amount of raw materials available to build atomic scale structures. One ASU researcher is avoiding these pitfalls by using cells as factories to make DNA-based nanostructures.--by Joe Caspermeyer

Butterfly wings, peacock feathers, opals and pearls are some of nature's jewels that use nanostructures to dazzle us with color. It's accomplished through the way light reaches our eyes after passing through the submicroscopic mazes within these materials. Now, a group of researchers has found a simple method for creating this effect. --by Joe Kullman

Microbial fuel cell technology uses the tiniest organisms on the planet--bacteria--as a viable option to make electricity. By linking bacterial metabolism directly with electricity production, the MFC eliminates the extra steps necessary in other fuel cell technologies. --by Joe Caspermeyer

Researchers from ASU and the Walter Reed Army Medical Center are teaming up to create the next generation of powered prosthetic devices based on lightweight, energy-storing springs. --by Christine Lambrakis

Temperature-sensitive polymer gels may be the solution to a lot of tricky medical problems. By injecting the gels directly into the blood vessels, doctors can treat dangerous aneurysms or deliver chemotheraphy drugs with fewer side effects. --by Melissa Crytzer Fry

Imagine a brain implant smart enough to maneuver around inside a person's skull. On its own, the device locates the target area to do its work. The task might involve deep brain stimulation therapy for a patient with Parkinson's disease. Or it might include powering the robotic arm of a person who has lost limb control. These kinds of moveable brain implants are not science fiction. They are being developed by scientists in ASU's Neural Microsystems Laboratory. --by Melissa Crytzer-Fry