ETH Zurich Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

Nature-inspired biomimetic stimulation for next-gen neuroprosthetics

Restoring natural sensory feedback results in functional and cognitive benefits for leg prosthesis users. The team at ETH Zurich applied this in neuroprosthetics. [Image courtesy of Pietro Comaschi/ETH Zurich]

A team of researchers at ETH Zurich found evidence that neuroprosthetics work better when they use signals that are inspired by nature.

The team, working under Professor Stanisa Raspopovic at the ETH Zurich Neuroengineering Lab, garnered attention years ago with prosthetic legs that enabled amputees to feel sensations from the artificial body part for the first time, according to ETH. This device connected to the sciatic nerve in the thigh through implanted electrodes. The electrical connection enabled the neuroprosthesis to communicate with the patient’s brain.

With this connection, the neuroprosthetics could relay information on the constant changes in pressure detected on the prosthetic fo…

Researchers develop magnetically controlled microrobot for brain surgery

Microrobotic catheter with helical surface in a blood vessel model. [Image courtesy of ETH Zurich/Marco Rosasco Photography]

A team at ETH Zurich is working on microrobotic catheters controlled by a robotic field that could optimize catheter navigation in endovascular procedures.

Led by Brad Nelson, professor in the Multi-Scale Robotics Lab (MSRL) at ETH Zurich, the team hopes to tackle what they believe is the biggest challenge in removing blood clots blocking blood flow to the brain during stroke — the complex structure of the blood vessels.

In the technology developed by this team, the patient lies next to a navigation system that generates a directed magnetic field. The team’s microrobotic catheter features a diameter measuring at less than one millimeter and a soft magnetic tip. This magnetic catheter tip can be steered in all directions using control software. ETH Zurich’s team says th…

Sound-powered sensor could enable battery-free devices

This miniaturized, battery-free sensor could offer uses in medical devices. [Image courtesy of ETH Zurich]

A new type of mechanical sensor developed by researchers in Switzerland could eliminate the need for batteries in this type of technology.

The reach of these battery-free sensors could extend to medical devices, too.

Marc Serra-Garcia and ETH Zurich geophysics professor Johan Robertsson led a team of researchers developing the technology. The creators applied for a patent and presented the principle in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.

“The sensor works purely mechanically and doesn’t require an external energy source. It simply utilises the vibrational energy contained in sound waves,” Robertsson said in a post on the ETH Zurich website.

Sound waves emitted from spoken words or particular tones or noises cause the sensor to vibrate. The energy from the vibrations generates a …

Researchers successfully 3D print polymer-based robotic hand with laser scanning

3D printed in one go: A robotic hand made of varyingly rigid and elastic polymers. [Image courtesy of ETH Zurich/Thomas Buchner]

Researchers at ETH Zurich and a U.S. startup used slow-curing plastics to develop durable and robust robots from high-quality materials.

The team can now print these complex robots in one go and combine soft, elastic and rigid materials. This enables the creation of delicate structures and parts and parts with cavities as desired.

MIT spinoff Inkbit developed the new printing technology. ETH Zurich researchers developed several robotic applications and helped optimize the technology for use with slow-curing polymers. The researchers jointly published their work in the journal Nature.

Using this new technology, the researchers succeeded for the first time in printing a robotic hand with bones, ligaments and tendons made of different polymers in one go.

“We wouldn’t…

Scientists report wearable breakthrough in electric control of DNA

In what they believe is a wearable breakthrough, researchers stimulated engineered cells to control insulin expression in mice. [Illustration by Nathan Devery via Adobe Stock]

Researchers at ETH Zurich in Switzerland say they’ve made a wearable breakthrough, developing an electrogenetic interface to enable transgene expression in human cells.

They call their work DART, for direct current (DC)-actuated regulation technology. It uses power “to generate non-toxic levels of reactive oxygen species that act via a biosensor to reversibly fine-tune synthetic promoters,” they said in a paper published in Nature Metabolism.

“We designed an electrogenetic interface consisting of genetic components that render human cells responsive to DC-triggered electrostimulation and enable exclusive, DC-adjustable transgene expression,” the researcher said.

The researchers bel…

Researchers develop wearable robotic exomuscle system

Marie Georgarakis demonstrates her Myoshirt exomuscle device. [Photo by Florian Haufe for ETH Zurich]ETH Zurich researchers have redefined the muscle shirt.

Marie Georgarakis, a former doctoral student at ETH Zurich’s Sensory Motor Systems Lab, is the creator of the Myoshirt, a wearable, textile robotic device that helps users lift their arms and reach. A motorized cable works like an artificial tendon, directed by sensors and an algorithm to support the wearer’s intended movement.

ETH Zurich researchers recently tested Myoshirt on a dozen people — one person with muscular dystrophy, another with a spinal cord injury and ten people without physical impairment — and all reported longer endurance when lifting their arms.

Get the full story at our sister site, Medical Design & Outsourcing.

Researchers develop wearable robotic exomuscle system

Marie Georgarakis demonstrates her Myoshirt exomuscle device. [Photo by Florian Haufe for ETH Zurich]

ETH Zurich researchers have redefined the muscle shirt.

Marie Georgarakis, a former doctoral student at ETH Zurich’s Sensory Motor Systems Lab, is the creator of the Myoshirt, a wearable, textile robotic device that helps users lift their arms and reach. A motorized cable works like an artificial tendon, directed by sensors and an algorithm to support the wearer’s intended movement.

ETH Zurich researchers recently tested Myoshirt on a dozen people — one person with muscular dystrophy, another with a spinal cord injury and ten people without physical impairment — and all reported longer endurance when lifting their arms.

The Myoshirt exomuscle device’s cable acts like a tendon. [Photo by Florian Haufe for ETH Zurich]

MyoshirtR…

This variable stiffness catheter could simplify cardiac procedures

Image courtesy of EPFL

Researchers in Switzerland have developed a variable stiffness catheter that can transition between soft and rigid states.

A team of researchers from technical university EPFL and ETH Zurich developed the catheter to make minimally invasive surgical interventions like cardiac arrhythmia treatment, simpler and more effective.

Catheters are inserted into arteries and navigated to treatment zones in many minimally invasive procedures. They can provide access to the heart without having to perform open-heart surgery. However, catheters can come with limitations.

Get the full story on our sister site, Medical Tubing + Extrusion.

Neurofeedback could help prostheses feel lighter: Here’s how

Prosthesis with neurofeedback sensors [Image from ETH Zurich]

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a prosthesis system that connects to the body’s nervous system to help amputees perceive a prosthetic weight as lower.

The prosthesis system provides feedback to the wearer using electrodes implanted in the thigh that are connected to the leg nerves. Information from the tactile sensors under the sole of the prosthetic foot and angle sensors in the electronic prosthetic knee joint are then converted into pulses of current and passed into the nerves, according to the researchers.

“To trick an above-knee amputee’s brain into the belief that the prosthetic leg was similar to his own leg, we artificially restored the lost sensory feedback,” lead researcher Stanisa Raspopovic said in a news release.

The researchers suggest that wearers of neurofeedback prostheses can move more …