Researchers invent 'smart' thread that collects diagnostic data when sutured into tissue

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. (July 18, 2016) For the first time, researchers led by Tufts University engineers have integrated nano-scale sensors, electronics and microfluidics into threads - ranging from simple cotton to sophisticated synthetics - that can be sutured through multiple layers of tissue to gather diagnostic data wirelessly in real time, according to a paper published online July 18 in Microsystems & Nanoengineering. The research suggests that the thread-based diagnostic platform coul...