EPFL

Engineers at EPFL and ETH Zurich developed a variable stiffness catheter made of nontoxic threads that can transition between soft and rigid states during surgery. It may make minimally invasive surgical interventions, including the treatment of cardiac arrhythmia, simpler and more effective.

Two EPFL scientists are putting their expertise in coral reefs to work in Mauritius and Seychelles. The pair has joined a United Nations program that aims to restore reefs affected by human and environmental pressure using a method known as seascape genomics.

EPFL engineering student Lucas Froissart designed an exoskeleton capable of propelling robot explorers into subsurface tunnels on the moon.

EPFL researchers have discovered that gadolinium-doped cerium oxide, a compound they created in the lab, could be a promising alternative to certain piezoelectric materials: it has the same proprieties yet may be 100 times more effective. It’s also lead-free, unlike the best piezoelectric materials, which means that it could be employed in bio-compatible medical applications. Further research will be conducted on this highly promising compound and similar materials.

Deep learning models are becoming increasingly common in bioimage analysis. Yet a lack of standardization and the use of these algorithms by non-experts are potential sources of bias. Scientists from EPFL and the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) offer practical tips and guidance in a paper recently published in the journal IEEE.

Scientists at EPFL have found a biological connection explaining why there is an increased predisposition to develop obesity and being less sociable in individuals that have experienced stress during early puberty.