A study led by bioengineers at the University of California San Diego sheds new light on how a type of heart valve disease, called aortic valve stenosis, progresses differently in males and females. The research reveals that this sex-based difference can be traced to a gene on the Y chromosome.  Source: MedicalXpress.com

Researchers are developing a preclinical method to stimulate the brain without drilling into the skull by guiding a catheter through the cerebrospinal fluid.

In recent years, scientists and engineers have looked to muscles as potential actuators for “biohybrid” robots — machines powered by soft, artificially grown muscle fibers. Now, MIT engineers with NIBIB funding have developed a method to grow artificial muscle tissue that twitches and flexes in multiple coordinated directions. Source: MIT News

A team of researchers at Case Western Reserve University has discovered that bacteria can invade the brain after a medical device is implanted, contributing to inflammation and reducing the device’s long-term effectiveness.

Their groundbreaking research, recently published in Nature Communications, could improve the long-term success of brain implants now that a target has been identified to address. Source: Case Western Reserve University: The Daily.

For decades, scientists have relied on electrodes and dyes to track the electrical activity of living cells. Now, engineers at the University of California San Diego with NIBIB funding have discovered that quantum materials just a single atom thick can do the job—using only light. Source: UC San Diego Today

A team of researchers at the University of Illinois Grainger College of Engineering have conducted a research project that's led to new technology that offers rapid, highly sensitive detection of multi-drug-resistant bacteria and other pathogens at low concentrations. Source: EurekAlert!

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has selected four finalists with innovative, non-invasive technologies that seek to improve diagnosis of endometriosis.

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear imaging technique used to diagnose conditions such as cancer. An innovative advance from scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is enhancing the technique’s ability to check for signs of neurological disease. The researchers repurposed the drug edaravone, an antioxidant used to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), as a probe to be used with central nervous system PET imaging. With this technique, the researchers can detect oxidative stress, which leads to brain damage, offering a clear path to detecting neurological conditions. Source: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Engineered tissues could one day do the work of traditional electrical stimulation devices while offering more customizable and biologically friendly solutions.