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)
Years ago, 35 to be exact, my wife and I enjoyed running-10Ks mostly. Well, father time has put an end to that activity but the "remains of the day" linger. I have real problems with my right hip and right knee. Hip replacement surgery has been recommended but I have put it off for several months due to schedule and the fact that I'm 168 pounds of rompin stompin coward. I talked with my doctor about repairing the cartilage in the joint but he tells me the repair, if possible at all, would be considerably worse than the replacement. With that being the case, Ann do you have a time-line for commercialization of the hydrogels or is this technology in its infancy--tried but unproven? Great article also.
Mydesign, replacement knee surgery is not a sure thing re results, not at all guaranteed, can cause a lot of problems and is insanely expensive: at least half the cost of a low-end car. Otherwise I would have done it by now. Also, most replacement knee implants/structures are engineered for men, not women. But you probably know all that. Meanwhile, any claims of technologies that regrow cartilage are, AFAIK, untrue.
Ann, I had done a bit research for my mother having the same problem. She has some wear and tear in her knee cartilage and doctors advising us for a complete knee replacement. We are looking for some alternate therapy, which can regenerate the cartilages. Eventhough many are clamming that it can be regenerate, but so far nothing is medically proven.
There may be a study out there somewhere that could answer your question, Rob, although it would depend on the specific topic. Most of what I've seen in robotics is defense-funded, for example.
From what you're saying, Ann, it sounds like more dollars are getting spent on research these days. Do you have any sense of whether that's the case? If so, is it coming from government? Business?
Rob, I think it's both: I do like finding obscure but weird and potentially earth-shaking developments in technology of several kinds. It's also true that we have more researchers now than ever before in many different disciplines, countries and cultures, working on many different solutions to many different problems. Humans have been ingenious creatures for hundreds of millenia: these advances aren't nearly as earth-shattering and shocking as the first sentences, or the first tools, or the first wheels.
I wonder if anyone is working on a substance that could contract to a fraction of its original length, simulating a muscular contraction. If such a substance could be interfaced with nerves it could replace lost muscles and limbs -- and think of the possibilities for robotics without motors.
We're several years aay from knee replacements. I'm not sure if even Baby Boomers will benefit from this on a large scale. I haven't read anything about computer trails or even animal testing yet.
The fact that two relatively weak hydrogels were combined to create something amazing and strong is another lesson for many. Finding the right combination in the right scale is, very often, the key to innovation.
Ann, I'll ask a question that I've asked before, but in a slightly broader way. All of this surprising new technology -- are these developments accelerating, or does it just seem that way because you're shining a light in a lot of disparate corners? It sure seems there's a flood of shocking advancements in medical and robotics.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
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.
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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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