Emory University announced on Wednesday that the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering of the National Institutes of Health has awarded a team of academic and medical institutions — including Emory University, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta — $7.8 million for research. Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering research team is conducting the first phase 1 clinical trial of a magnetic, flexible endoscope that has the potential to provide a safer alternative to standard colonoscopy, particularly for individuals with inflammatory bowel disease. Source: Nashville Medical News

Backed by a $2.6 million federal grant, a team of researchers from the University of Rhode Island and the UMass Chan Medical School is developing a wearable device that would be able to detect if people are taking their medication for opioid-use disorder, increasing the likelihood they would remain in treatment and preventing overdose deaths. Source: URI Rhody Today

Researchers have developed a smart phone app that can track and analyze human locomotion—the ability to move from one place to another—and other types of movements. They suggest that using the app costs only 1% of conventional motion analysis techniques and works 25 times faster. Source: NIH News. 

By combining non-invasive imaging techniques, a team of investigators led by Massachusetts General have created a comprehensive cellular atlas of a region of the human brain known as Broca’s area. The methods could be used to create 3D models of particular brain areas and the entire human brain. Source: Massachusetts General Hospital/Science Daily 

UMass Chan Medical School and UMass Lowell have received $8.9 million from the National Institutes of Health in support for their development of home care technology. Source: Worcester Business Journal

Researchers have pushed forward the boundaries of biomedical engineering one hundredfold with a new method for DNA detection with unprecedented sensitivity. Source: University of Massachusetts Amherst/Science Daily

Researchers have long recognized the therapeutic potential of using magnetoelectrics ⎯ materials that can turn magnetic fields into electric fields ⎯ to stimulate neural tissue in a minimally invasive way and help treat neurological disorders or nerve damage. A Rice University led team have designed the first magnetoelectric material that can be used to precisely stimulate neurons remotely and to bridge the gap in a broken sciatic nerve in a rat model.  Source: Rice University

Traditional medical imaging works great for people with light skin but has trouble getting clear pictures from patients with darker skin. A Johns Hopkins University–led team found a way to deliver clear pictures of anyone's internal anatomy, no matter their skin tone.  Source: Johns Hopkins University