A new flexible, self-healing hydrogel that could replace cartilage can be stretched it to 21 times its length before breaking. (Source: Jeong-Yun Sun/Harvard University)
The self-healing and elasticity of this gel is pretty amazing. I would have liked to have this as a commercialized option for my dog who in the last two years went through two separate surgeries to repair the doggie equivalent of a torn ACL.
What's amazing to me about these hydrogels is their damage tolerance. The ability to stretch a polymeric material many times its original length is not all that noteworthy, but the ability to stretch a polymeric material with a notch in it many times its original length is totally incredible.
Understanding the mechanisms behind the toughness and damage tolerance of these hydrogels could lead to the development of tough polymers for all kinds of applications.
With regard to cartilage replacement, biocompatibility may be a hurdle. One of the biggest difficulties with cartilage replacement therapies to date has been the body rejecting the new cartilage (even when it has been grown in the lab from the patient's own cells).
Dave, I agree. I found the technical discussion a bit dense, but the ability to stretch and recover, notch or no notch, is apparently due to a mix of strong and weak molecular integration and the (resulting?) crosslinked networks.
This is amazing and sorely needed. For some young patients who have had a lot of cartilage removed, the only other alternative to is to use cadaver cartilage or an artificial knee. One of my college-age sons is now in this situation. If there was an artificial alternative that wouldn't be rejected by the body, it would be a godsend.
Ann, that's a new and interesting technology. Most of the old peoples have severe pain in their knees due to the wear and tear in cartilages around and beneath the knee cap. Any idea how we can apply this to the knee.
Charles, now there are some magnetic therapy treatments are available for regeneration of cartilages. I know some of the patient who had undergone the treatment and feels better. But so far it is not proved or accepted by any medical council.
The 100-percent solar-powered Solar Impulse plane flies on a piloted, cross-country flight this summer over the US as a prelude to the longer, round-the-world flight by its successor aircraft planned for 2015.
GE Aviation expects to chop off about 25 percent of the total 3D printing time of metallic production components for its LEAP Turbofan engine, using in-process inspection. That's pretty amazing, considering how slow additive manufacturing (AM) build times usually are.
A $1,500, hand-operated, bench-model, plastic injection machine crowdsource-funded via Kickstarter can be used to mold small, quality, plastic parts inexpensively, on demand.
The federal government is launching competitions to kickstart three more manufacturing innovation institutes, including one focused on Lightweight and Modern Metals Manufacturing Innovation.
The airframe of Airbus's A350 XWB consists of a bigger proportion of carbon-fiber-reinforced composite structures than any other commercial jet to date: over 53 percent by weight.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
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I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
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For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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