New brain implants disguise as neurons, offering a potentially safer way to study and treat the brain

Like a well-guarded fortress, the human brain attacks intruders on sight. Foreign objects, including neural probes used to study and treat the brain, do not last long. But now, researchers have designed a probe that looks, acts, and feels so much like a real neuron that the brain cannot identify the imposters. According to Charles M. Lieber, this breakthrough “literally […]

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3D-printed implants shown to help grow ‘real bone’

Chemically coated, ceramic implants successfully guided the regrowth of missing bone in lab animals while “steadily dissolving,” researchers report. Surgeons and scientists at NYU School of Medicine and NYU College of Dentistry say their implanted scaffolds were naturally absorbed by the test animals’ bodies as new bone gradually replaced the devices. The research team describes its progress in a series […]

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