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In a first-of-its-kind surgery, a 57-year-old patient with terminal heart disease received a successful transplant of a genetically-modified pig heart and is still doing well five days later. It was the only currently available option for the patient.

In vitro diagnostics (IVDs) are tests that can detect disease, conditions and infections. In vitro means that these tests are performed in test tubes and equipment, rather than in vivo, which is performed within the body.

Silk makes an important biomaterial, because it does not generate an immune response in humans and promotes the growth of cells. It has been used in drug delivery, and because the material is flexible and has favorable technological properties, it is ideal for wearable and implantable health monitoring sensors.

When a patient receives a kidney transplant, doctors carefully monitor them for signs of rejection in several ways, including biopsy. However, this procedure is invasive and can only detect issues at a late stage. Now, researchers have developed a CRISPR-based assay that can sensitively and non-invasively detect a biomarker of acute kidney rejection in urine. This could someday help diagnose rejection earlier and without a biopsy.

Via drug repositioning, researchers have created a combination of rifampicin and resveratrol and have shown in mouse models that the nasal administration improves cognitive function without the negative liver side effects of rifampicin alone.

Up to 90% of patients who undergo open abdominal or pelvic surgery develop postoperative adhesions, or scar tissue. Minimally invasive laparoscopic surgical approaches can reduce the severity of the adhesions, but the scar tissue still forms.

A major obstacle to widespread study and clinical use of 3D tissues is their short shelf-life, which may be anywhere from a just few hours to a few days. As in the case of an organ transplant, a bioprinted tissue must be transported rapidly to the location where it is needed, or it will not be viable.

Researchers have developed a machine-learning program that can be connected to a human brain and used to command a robot. The program adjusts the robot's movements based on electrical signals from the brain. The hope is that with this invention, tetraplegic patients will be able to carry out more day-to-day activities on their own.

The cochlear implant is the most successful neural prosthesis worldwide. Thanks to direct stimulation of the auditory nerve, it enables more than half a million people worldwide to hear, even though those affected were born deaf or deafened. Researchers have developed a method to convert the stimulation electrodes of common cochlear implants into electrochemical sensors.

A novel carbon-based biosensor is set to drive new innovations in brain-controlled robotics. The sensor is made of epitaxial graphene - essentially multiple layers of very thin, very strong carbon - grown directly onto a silicon-carbide-on-silicon substrate. The result is a highly scalable novel sensing technology that overcomes three major challenges of graphene-based biosensing: corrosion, durability and skin contact resistance