Made of an electroactive polymer that stimulates skin, a soft and flexible display technology could empower the visually challenged to better communicate. Elsewhere, the band-aid-sized breakthrough also holds promise for such potential applications as tele-surgical gloves, tactile display cloths, and virtual-reality keyboards. While most current computer info is gleaned via visual and audio means, this one addresses touch, the human body's largest sense.

The creation of a radio-labeled probe, and a bit of ingenious molecular engineering, will allow researchers to better study the immune system's response to new therapies. The probe is used in tandem with a common chemotherapy drug during Positron Emission Tomography (PET). As a result, scientists can monitor the immune system in 3D as it battles cancer. Understanding the immune system's response to cancer may relieve patients of unnecessary and potentially toxic therapy.

Clever use of engineering software helped a Kansas company make the switch from aerospace to medical. Aero Innovative Research relied on Alibre CAD and DesignCheck FEA from Algor to model and analyze all major parts in its Flight Ultralight Wheelchair, which measures just 9.5 in. wide when folded. Designers built enough durability into the chair for it to pass tough FDA impact tests without a single fastener coming loose.

Working with Dassault Systèmes, Philippe Fuchs, a professor and marathon runner, has set off on a virtual 6,000 mile Paris to Beijing trek as part of a project to create a bio-realistic 3D model of a human foot. Fuchs uses sensors and running sole inserts to collect such data points as speed, placement, cadence, length of stride, and pressure. A special Web site tracked Fuchs' run, which ended just before the summer Olympics.

In living color — micromagnets can add color to and enhance data provided by MRI images. Injected into the body, the magnets adjust to RF signals that create images. The signals are converted by computer into optical colors. With additional testing, each micromagnet could be individually detected for imaging applications.

Surgeons can better keep operating fields sterile with a hand gesture recognition system that facilitates digital image manipulation during medical procedures. By motioning, the sterile human-machine interface could replace touch screens and reduce operating arena infection rates. Researchers at Israel's Ben-Gurion University are developing the process.

Life-critical medical imaging equipment offers an opportunity for ceramic motion systems, or systems employing ceramic motors and actuators. Scanning electron microscopes and magnetic resonance imaging machines, for example, are magnetically sensitive. The robots and manipulator arms working in conjunction with these systems must not interfere with operation. In this report, Design News highlights one manufacturer's experience in matching ceramic motion systems with medical imaging applications.

The seam-sealing reliability required for implantable devices is afforded by laser welding, says this Manufacturing Engineering article. Benefits for micromedical welding, bonding plastic fluid delivery devices, and cutting or welding medical monitoring equipment include low maintenance and ease of integration with vision-based positioning and other subsystems.

Named the Best State for Business in 2007 by Forbes magazine, Virginia offers an educated work force, supportive regulatory and economic climate, and growth prospects for the med tech sector. In the Hampton Roads area of southeastern Virginia, synergies among regional aerospace, armed services, and medical interests abound. The area provides opportunities for existing concerns to expand and scope for emerging technologies to grow.

If you're one of many people who are plagued with dreadful migraine headaches, you may want to consider a novel portable electronic device capable of literally zapping away your pain. This noninvasive transcranial magnetic stimulator (TMS) can "zap" the migraine pain by interrupting its aura phase before it results in a throbbing headache.

Facelift for Engineering Education?

A prominent university expert is calling for a revolution in engineering education that will give graduates a deeper appreciation of the cultural and social forces that affect technology. Are such changes really needed and will they produce better engineers?