A novel method for the fabrication of dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) combines acrylic polymers and single wall carbon nanotube network electrodes. DEAs made using this technique do not require prestretching, have extremely thin electrodes, and can be actuated at low voltage. The method is applied to create a multimorph device with nine actuation modes based on just four inputs.

COMMENTARY We would like to comment on the comprehensive review of Karantanos and Gazouli in Annals of Gastroenterology [1] about genetics and innate immunity in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The authors appreciate the important role of innate immune sensing and the production of antimicrobial peptides in maintaining the integrity of the mucosal barrier. Pertinent studies on the subject are...

Highly aligned multi-wall carbon nanotubes were synthesized in the shape of towers and embedded into fluidic channels as electrodes for impedance measurement of LNCaP human prostate cancer cells. Tower electrodes up to 8 mm high were grown and easily peeled off a silicon substrate. The nanotube electrodes were then successfully soldered onto patterned printed circuit boards and cast into epoxy ...

We examined the effect of cognitive and/or relaxation training on the tolerance for a painful one and one-half hour clinical electromyographic (EMG) examination, which includes multiple electric shocks to nerves and multiple insertions of needle electrodes into muscles. Four groups of 10 males each received training as follows: (i) cognitive only, (ii) relaxation only, (iii) cognitive plus rela...

Flexible electrodes play an increasing role for medical applications, such as ECG (electrocardiography) or TENS (Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) due to comfort in use and thus their suitability health monitoring under movement during sport. Polymers, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), are promising the development of fabrication methods materials application cases, stable flexible thi...