Health Sciences

EPFL researchers have combined virtual reality, non-invasive brain stimulation and advanced brain imaging techniques to improve spatial navigation in healthy participants. The study is a first step in addressing dementia in an aging population without medication or surgery.

Pioneer Fellow Hao Liu uses lasers to produce microfilament structures to grow biological tissue in the lab for research and medicine – from muscle tissue to cartilage. Now he’s working to ready this technology for the market.

Many people suffer from spinal defects, which are often associated with degenerative diseases. The causes are still largely unknown. To change this, Empa researchers from the Center for X-Ray Analytics are investigating a stabilizing ligament in the spine in collaboration with Balgrist University Hospital in Zurich. The project could recently be launched thanks to a number of private donations.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed ultra-flexible brain probes that accurately record brain activity without causing tissue damage. This opens up new avenues for the treatment of a range of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. 

Pharmaceutical researchers often find new pharmaceutically active substances only by sifting through large collections of chemical compounds. Chemists at ETH Zurich have now made critical progress on a specific process for generating and searching these collections.