Explore more about: Implantable medical device

NIBIB-funded researchers are working to make bladder surgeries better, tackling the issue from two vantage points: improving bladder function using a biodegradable construct that facilitates tissue regeneration, and enhancing patient monitoring by developing an implantable bladder sensor.

While pacemakers have treated many patients with heart rhythm disorders, their bulky design and use of wires limits their usefulness and poses a risk of heart damage or infection. Now, researchers have cut the cords, shrunk the size, and expanded the capabilities of current designs.

Frequent insulin injections are an unpleasant reality for many patients with type 1 diabetes. However, new technology could create a different reality for these patients.

Introducing medical devices — commonly made of materials such as titanium, silicone, or collagen — into our bodies can elicit a host of different immune responses. While some responses can harm our bodies, others can help heal them. A new study fills in a critical piece of the puzzle.

The National Institutes of Health, through its Blueprint MedTech program, has established two incubator hubs and launched a funding solicitation in support of commercially viable, clinically focused neurotechnology solutions to diagnose and treat disorders of the nervous system.

Osteoarthritis – a painful condition that results from the deterioration of the cartilage in our joints – affects millions of people worldwide. To combat this issue, NIBIB-funded researchers are developing an implantable, biodegradable film that helps to regenerate the native cartilage at the site of damage. Their study, performed in rabbits, could be an initial, important step in the establishment of a new treatment.

In Made of Stronger Stuff, psychologist Kimberley Wilson and doctor Xand van Tulleken learn how Jason became the first person in the world with a neural enabled prosthetic hand, and as a result, regained the sensation of touch in his fingers. Source: BBC Radio Podcast.

UCF Researchers were awarded a prize in the HHS KidneyX Challenge for development of an implantable artificial kidney device that allows patients to perform dialysis at home. The project previously received support from NIBIB.

Building on early-stage funding by NIBIB to develop an implantable artificial kidney, researchers at the University of California San Francisco were selected for a substantial prize in the HHS KidneyX Challenge.

A new technique funded by NIBIB and developed by University of Minnesota researchers allows 3D printing of hydrogel-based sensors directly on the surface of organs, such as lungs—even as they expand and contract. The technology was developed to support robot-assisted medical treatments.