A closer look at the science
behind better healthcare.
Follow a question from first principles to the clinic. Browse the science of imaging, treatment, materials, and measurement.
324 articles
Deep dives first, then reading editionsA tissue scaffold supplies structure that cells can inhabit and reshape. Its geometry, chemistry, stiffness, and breakdown rate influence cell behavior, while measurement and manufacturing remain central challenges for translating designs.
A treatment’s observed outcome includes more than the treatment itself. Comparison groups help researchers estimate how much change would have happened anyway, while trial design shapes how confidently that estimate can be interpreted.
An implant faces more than a one-time test of strength. Repeated forces, body chemistry, wear and biological response all shape whether a device’s materials remain suitable at its intended location over time.
A camera records light, but a clinical measurement requires a defined target, a calibrated signal path and evidence that readings work in their intended setting. Sensors differ in what they detect and what conclusions their data support.
Focused ultrasound can concentrate acoustic energy in tissue, raising temperature at a selected location. Thermal ablation depends on controlled heating, while imaging and temperature monitoring help manage the challenge of protecting nearby structures.
External beams and implanted sources can concentrate radiation in selected body regions, while some liquid treatments travel through the bloodstream. The difference depends on the source and route, and helps explain both targeting and effects on nearby tissue.
“Plasma” can describe different technologies with different effects and evidence. Headline readers can distinguish the device, clinical purpose, study phase, and outcome before deciding what a finding means.
A sensor turns a changing physical quantity into a measurable signal; electronics then sample and encode it. Each step preserves some information and can blur or discard other details.
Children’s imaging asks a practical physics question: how can a scanner gather enough information to answer a clinical question while accounting for a smaller body and a longer lifetime ahead?
The randomized study compared cold atmospheric plasma plus standard care with a placebo procedure plus standard care. Its wound-area findings need to be read alongside the guideline’s low-certainty assessment.
Photodynamic therapy depends on a drug, oxygen chemistry, and light arriving at the same place. Tissue scattering and absorption restrict how deep light can reach, making delivery part of the treatment’s design.
Resonance is a shared physical idea across imaging and hearing: systems respond to energy in ways shaped by their structure. MRI and the cochlea use very different mechanisms, but both reveal how tiny responses carry information.
Doppler ultrasound uses changes in reflected sound to estimate blood-flow direction and speed. The method turns echoes into functional maps that complement anatomy, while depending on beam angle and careful interpretation.
A radiotracer combines a radioactive atom with a carrier that helps determine where it travels. The resulting signal can reveal biological activity, while the carrier and isotope shape what the scan can show.
A sensor reading becomes more useful when it is interpreted alongside other signals and context. Learn how independent measurements can sharpen a picture while still leaving uncertainty and judgment in the loop.
A low-temperature process uses hydrogen peroxide vapor and an energized gas to damage microbes on compatible medical devices. Its usefulness depends on careful cleaning, dryness, and the geometry of the items being processed.
Endoscopy brings optical imaging into body cavities by combining illumination, a viewing path, and a compact camera. The design must deliver a useful picture through a narrow instrument while navigating real tissue.
A removed tumor’s edges offer a practical way to study whether cold plasma can affect cancer cells left near an operation site. The early trial measured safety alongside surgery, leaving effectiveness unresolved.
