Next-generation sutures can deliver drugs, prevent infections and monitor wounds

Sutures are used to close wounds and speed up the natural healing process, but they can also complicate matters by causing damage to soft tissues with their stiff fibers. To remedy the problem, researchers from Montreal have developed innovative tough gel sheathed (TGS) sutures inspired by the human tendon.

Tissue-integrated microlasers used to measure contraction in beating heart of zebrafish

Researchers have shown that tiny lasers integrated into heart muscle cells or tissue can be used to acquire high-resolution measurements of contractility in heart muscle cells, live zebrafish and living heart tissue at locations several times deeper than other light-based techniques. The ability to characterize the contractile properties of single cells in the beating heart …