Field Of Biomedical Engineering Research Articles

All-in-one bioactive properties of photothermal nanofibers for accelerating diabetic wound healing

Diabetic wound healing has attracted widespread attention in biomedical engineering. However, the harsh hypoxic microenvironment (HME) comprising high glucose levels, local bleeding, and bacterial infection often leads to the formation of hyperplastic scars, increasing the clinical demand for wound dressings. Here, we report a comprehensive strategy using near-infrared NIR–assisted oxygen delivery combined with the bioactive nature of biopolymers for remodeling the HME. Black phosphorus (BP) nanosheets and hemoglobin (Hb) were self-assembled layerwise onto electrospun poly-l-lactide (PLLA) nanofibers using charged quaternized chitosan (QCS) and hyaluronic acid. BP converts NIR radiation into heat and stimulates Hb to release oxygen in situ. QCS is a hemostatic and broad-spectrum antibacterial material. Moderate BP-derived photothermal therapy can increase the sensitivity of bacteria to QCS. A series of composite wound dressings (coded as PQBH-n) with different numbers of layers were fabricated, and the in vivo diabetic wound healing potentials were tested. The molecular mechanism can be partly attributed to the cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction. Notably, this comprehensive strategy based on NIR-assisted oxygen delivery combined with the bioactive properties of biopolymers is not only applicable for fabricating multifunctional wound dressings but also has a great potential in expanding biomedical engineering fields.

Engineered nanovesicles from stromal vascular fraction promote angiogenesis and adipogenesis inside decellularized adipose tissue through encapsulating growth factors

Acellular matrix is a commonly used biomaterial in the field of biomedical engineering and revascularization is the key process to affect the effect of acellular matrix on tissue regeneration. The application of bioactive factors related to angiogenesis has been popular in the regulation of revascularization, but the immune system clearance, uncontrollable systemic reactions, and other factors make this method face challenges. Recent reports showed that engineered cells into nanovesicles can reorganize cell membranes and encapsulate cellular active factors, extending the in vitro preservation of cytokines. However, the problems of exogenous biological contamination and tumorigenicity restricted the clinical transformation and wide application of this method. Here, we for the first time engineer stromal vascular fraction (SVF) which is extracted from fat into nanovesicles (SVF-EVs) for angiogenesis in the acellular matrix. SVF-EVs not only promote the migration of vascular endothelial cells in vitro, but also facilitate the lipogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells. In vivo, SVF-EVs enhanced the retention of decellularized adipose tissue after transplanting to the subcutaneous area of nude mice. Immunofluorescence staining further showed that SVF-EVs promoted the formation of vascular networks with large lumen diameter in the grafted acellular matrix, accompanied by adipocyte regeneration peripherally. These findings reveal that SVF-EVs can be a viable method for accelerating revascularization in acellular matrix, and this process of squeezing tissue into nanovesicles shows the potential for rapid clinical transformation.

Cancer bioimaging using dual mode luminescence of graphene/FA-ZnO nanocomposite based on novel green technique

Graphene based nanomaterials are explored in the field of cancer bioimaging and biomedical science and engineering. The luminescent nanostructures with a low toxicity and high photostability can be used as probes in bioimaging applications. This work is aimed to prepare graphene/folic acid-zinc oxide (GN/FA-ZnO) nanocomposite with dual-mode emissions (down-conversion and up-conversion) to be used in cancer bioimaging. The dual mode emissions offer long luminescence lifetime, multicolor emissions detected by the naked eyes after excitation and narrow band absorption and emission spectra. ZnO nanospheres and nanorods structures were prepared using co-precipitation technique and were conjugated with FA to separate the bulk graphite layers electrostatically into GN. The optical, morphological, surface charge and structural properties of the prepared nanostructures were investigated and discussed using different characterization techniques such as UV–visible spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), Zeta potential, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). GN/FA-ZnO nanocomposites were injected into Swiss albino mice implanted with Ehrlich Tumor and the bioimaging was investigated using photon imager and digital camera. The results showed clear fluorescence and confirmed that the green design of GN/FA-ZnO nanocomposite with targeting behavior was capable of selective bioimaging of the tumor. This study presented a novel dual mode emission nanocomposite for tumor targeting and is a promising strategy for the fabrication of a new design of spectral encoding.

A biodegradable injectable fluorescent polyurethane-oxidized dextran hydrogel for non-invasive monitoring.

Hydrogels have been extensively used in the field of biomedical engineering. In order to achieve non-invasive and real-time visualization of the in vivo status of hydrogels, we designed a fluorescent polyurethane-oxidized dextran (PU-OD) hydrogel with good injectability and self-healing properties, which was cross-linked from a tetraphenyl ethylene (TPE)-containing fluorescent polyurethane emulsion with oxidized dextran by dynamic acylhydrazone bonds. The hydrogel can be used as a visual platform for drug delivery as well as monitoring its own degradation. The network structure of the hydrogel gave it drug-loading capability, and the acylhydrazone bond enabled its pH-responsive drug release. Meanwhile, the PU-OD hydrogel could undergo fluorescence resonance transfer with doxorubicin hydrochloride, showing its potential application in monitoring drug release. In addition, fluorometric and weighing methods were performed to monitor the degradation behavior of the hydrogels in vivo and in vitro, respectively, showing that the non-invasive fluorometric method can be consistent with the invasive weighing method. This work highlights that the introduction of aggregation-induced emission molecules into polyurethanes provides a visual platform that allows for non-invasive monitoring of the material without affecting its own function, which is convenient and less damaging to the body or animals. Consequently, it possesses excellent and promising potential in biomedical materials technologies.

Hydraulic-electric analogy for design and operation of microfluidic systems.

Microfluidic systems have been investigated as practical tools in the fields of biomedical engineering, analytical chemistry, materials science, and biological research. Yet the widespread applications of microfluidic systems have been hindered by the complexity of microfluidic design and the reliance on bulky external controllers. Hydraulic-electric analogy provides a powerful method to design and operate microfluidic systems with minimal requirement of control equipment. Here, we summarize recent development of microfluidic components and circuits based on the hydraulic-electric analogy. In a manner similar to electric circuits, microfluidic analogue circuits with a continuous flow or pressure input actuate fluids in a predetermined way to enable singular tasks such as flow- or pressure-driven oscillators. Microfluidic digital circuits consisting of logic gates are activated by a programmable input to perform complex tasks including on-chip computation. In this review, the design principles and applications of a variety of microfluidic circuits are overviewed. The challenges and future directions of the field are also discussed.

Effective Preprocessing of Single-Cell RNA-Seq for Unravelling Alzheimer's Disease Signatures.

The development in the field of biomedical technology has brought significant progress in the diagnosis and prediction of many complex diseases. Part of this development is the single-cell RNA sequencing analysis, which allows the study of a complex disease in great depth at the cellular level. Such analyses can decipher the mechanisms that cause complex diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the increasing depth in the collection of single-cell RNA sequencing data implies, in addition to greater challenges, the production of a large amount of information, which needs careful analysis. Toward this direction, we examine the approach to single-cell RNA sequencing data through the development of an exploratory data analysis methodology. For this purpose, a combination of various tools is presented for their effective and efficient processing. At the same time, reference is made to the relevant biological concepts, the goals and challenges of the studies, and the workflows of sequencing, preprocessing, and analysis of the data. Our framework is applied to Alzheimer's disease data providing evidence that such data are quite complex while the appropriate preprocess step can boost the machine learning processes for identifying AD signatures.

A theoretical approach for a new design of an ultrasensitive angular plasmonic chemical sensor using black phosphorus and aluminum oxide architecture.

In this study, the biosensing capabilities of conventional and hybrid multilayer structures were theoretically examined based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The transfer matrix method is adopted to obtain the reflectance spectra of the hybrid multilayer structure in the visible region. In this regard, the considered SPR sensor is configured as, [prism (CaF2)/Al2O3/Ag/Al2O3/2D material/Al2O3/Sensing medium]. Interestingly, many optimization steps were conducted to obtain the highest sensitivity of the new SPR biosensor from the hybrid structure. Firstly, the thickness of an Al2O3 layer with a 2D material (Blue P/WS2) is optimized to obtain an upgraded sensitivity of 360° RIU-1. Secondly, the method to find the most appropriate 2D material for the proposed design is investigated to obtain an ultra-high sensitivity. Meanwhile, the inclusion of black phosphorus (BP) increases the sensor's sensitivity to 466° RIU-1. Thus, black phosphorus (BP) was obtained as the most suitable 2D material for the proposed design. In this regard, the proposed hybrid SPR biosensing design may pave the way for further opportunities for the development of various SPR sensors to be utilized in chemical and biomedical engineering fields.

Highly sensitive determination of L-glutamic acid in pig serum with an enzyme-free molecularly imprinted polymer on a carbon-nanotube modified electrode.

Through electrochemical polymerization using L-glutamic acid (L-Glu) as a template and 4,6-diaminoresorcinol as a functional monomer, an enzyme-free molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) based L-Glu sensor with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) decorated on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE), namely G-MIP/MWCNTs/GCE, was developed in this work. The reaction conditions were optimized as follows: electrochemical polymerization of 23 cycles, pH of 3.0, molar ratio of template/monomer of 1 : 4, volume ratio of elution reagents of acetonitrile/formic acid of 1 : 1, and elution time of 2 min. The prepared materials and molecularly imprinted polymer were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) as well as electrochemical methods. The electrochemical properties of different electrodes were investigated via differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), showing that the electrode of G-MIP/MWCNTs/GCE exhibited excellent catalytic oxidation activity towards L-Glu. A good linear relationship between peak-currents and L-Glu concentrations in a range from 1.00 × 10-8 to 1.00 × 10-5 mol L-1 was observed, with a detection limit of 5.13 × 10-9 mol L-1 (S/N = 3). The imprinted sensor possesses excellent selectivity, high sensitivity, and good stability, which have been successfully applied for the detection of L-Glu in pig serum samples with a recovery rate of 97.4-105.5%, being comparable to commercial high-performance liquid chromatography, demonstrating a simple, rapid, and accurate way for the determination of L-Glu in the fields of animal nutrition and biomedical engineering.

Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles [SPION] and its Diversified Applications in the Medical Field: A Mini-Review

Late 21st century, extensive research has been carried out on nanoparticles due to their significant role in a supercapacitor, energy storage, sensing, catalysis, green gas production, and photocatalysis due to their semiconductor behavior, costeffective and simple methodology. The utilization of nanoparticle (NP) material provides numerous advantages in biomedical applications due to its unique properties. Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have been recognized in numerous fields including nanobiotechnology, biomedical engineering, and many other fields for their inestimable applications. Superparamagnetic properties and the smaller size of SPIONs are the major reasons for its utilization in various fields. In this study, we focused on different roots to synthesize the ION Super Paramagnetic Iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION), and biomedical applications due to their non-toxic in biological systems.

A review of the types and tessellation of lattice structures, their effectiveness and limitations in mimicking natural cellular structures

Lattice structures are useful in the automotive, biomedical, and aerospace engineering fields because of their good mechanical properties. The efficacy with which their geometries are designed influences their load-bearing capacity. The methods of generating different types of lattice structures have not been clearly outlined in literature. Furthermore, their applicability and shortcomings in trying to mimic biological cellular structures remain to be well investigated. In this paper, numerous types of lattice structures prevalent in literature are highlighted and their tessellation described. The paper also explores the application of lattice structures in terms of their capabilities and limitations, in mimicking cellular structures in nature.

To the question of the legal policy of the modern Russian state in the field of biomedical technologies

The article deals with the issues of legislative regulation of biotechnologies in the field of healthcare. The authors analyzed the current international and domestic legislation in the field of biotechnology in the context of the legal policy of the Russian Federation at the present stage.

Production methods and marketing of bioceramic materials with artificial intelligence supported 3d printer models

The field of biomedical engineering relies heavily on materials known as bioceramics due to their many advantages. That’s also because bioceramics are often used in the field of tissue engineering as well as implant applications. It is a direct consequence of the effective use of bioceramics. Three-dimensional printing is now the production technology used most often for bioceramics. On the other hand, there are also various approaches (3D Printers). The manufacturing processes have certain commonalities (such as the production of materials in successive layers). Still, they also share some variances (such as the amount of time it takes, the amount of money it costs, and the temperature at which the machine operates). This study contains research on the many ways that may be used to create bioceramics and the benefits and drawbacks of the various methods applied in the manufacturing process.

Advanced materials for bioresorbable stent for real-time health-care monitoring

Purpose: Heart failure, which has a mortality rate higher than most cancers, is among the most important public health issues. Because of this, the fields of medicine and bio-medical engineering have provided a lot of attention to cardiovascular disease. In this review, we present the recent bioresorbable stent technology in aspect of advanced materials to overcome health issues.
 Methodology: This study is based on reviews of Bioresorbable stent (BRS) technology from various technical resources.
 Main Findings: Bioresorbable stent (BRS) shows new class of medical devices in interventional cardiology for the treatment of coronary artery disease. The concept of the BRS is to provide temporal support to the vessel during healing before being degraded and absorbed by the body, eliminating the additional surgical process.
 Implications: With advances in nanofabrication, novel kinds of bioresorbable sensing/wireless component could be fabricated and integrated on the stent without failure when it expanded in the vessel. These technologies will significantly influence future diagnosis technology for future generations.
 Novelty: The technology was introduced to overcome limitations of current developed drug-eluting stents, which are fabricated with metallic materials. With development of medical strategies, we could response earlier for medical issues to prevent recurrence of disease.

Alteration in membrane-based pumping flow with rheological behaviour: A mathematical model

Background and ObjectiveBlood is complex fluids exhibits the non-Newtonian characters and rheological properties of the blood vary person to person. Typically, the rheological properties of blood are very similar to Carreau fluids which is considered in the present model. The main objective of this study is to examine how a typical membrane-based pumping model will function with varying rheological properties (shear-thinning, Newtonian, and shear-thickening) of fluids. MethodsA mathematical formulation is constructed for the membrane-based pumping model using the conservation principles of mass and momentum, and stress-strain relationship based on Carreau fluids model. Velocity slip condition is adopted for this model to discuss the possibility of fluids velocity at the wall surface. The perturbation method is employed to derive the series solution for the governing equations subjected to physical boundary conditions with suitable assumptions. ResultsFrom numerical results, it is found that the pressure inside the microchannel reduces for the shear-thinning fluid and increases for the shear-thickening fluid with increasing the Weissenberg. In the membrane region, the chaos of the flow field is occurred due to the local pressure gradient by the rhythmic membrane propagation. It is further reported that shear-driven flow is responsible for the decrement in fluid velocity. ConclusionsThis model provides a framework for estimating the effects of rheological properties and velocity slip for membrane-based pumping model which help in designing the smart pumps for various needs in the fields of biomedical engineering and fluid industries.

Auxetic metamaterials for bone-implanted medical devices: Recent advances and new perspectives

Auxetic metamaterials and structures are characterized by their negative Poisson's ratio meaning that they exhibit lateral expansion under tensile axial loads and densification under compressive loads. The unique properties of the auxetic metamaterials have been generated by designing the micro- and macro-structures with various materials/designs. These types of structures are attracting interest for different reasons such as high energy absorption and improvement in mechanical and biological properties of medical devices. However, some of their interesting characteristics have not been widely explored yet in the field of biomedical engineering. This review aims at highlighting the applications of the auxetic structures in various bone medical devices. Additionally, it investigates different unit cells that were introduced as auxetic designs. The potential of using the auxetic structures in bone tissue engineering is discussed as well.

Electrohydrodynamic printing of submicron-microscale hybrid scaffolds with improved cellular adhesion and proliferation behaviors

Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printing has been considered as a mature strategy to mimic the hierarchical microarchitectures in native extracellular matrix (ECM). Most of the EHD-printed scaffolds possess single-dimensional fibrous structures, which cannot mimic the multi-dimensional architectures for enhanced cellular behaviors. Here we developed a two-nozzle EHD printing system to fabricate hybrid scaffolds involving submicron and microscale features. The polyethylene oxide- polycaprolactone (PEO-PCL) submicron fibers were fabricated via solution-based EHD printing with a width of 527 ± 56 nm. The PCL microscale fibers were fabricated via melt-based EHD printing with a width of 11.2 ± 2.3 μm. The hybrid scaffolds were fabricated by printing the submicron and microscale fibers in a layer-by-layer manner. The microscale scaffolds were utilized as a control group. Rat myocardial cells (H9C2 cells) were cultured on the two kinds of scaffolds for the culturing period of 1, 3 and 5 d. Biological results indicated that H9C2 cells showed enhanced adhesion and proliferation behaviors on the hybrid scaffold than those on the pure microscale scaffold. This work offers a facile and scalable strategy to fabricate multiscale synthetic scaffolds, which might be further explored to regulate cellular behaviors in the fields of tissue regeneration and biomedical engineering.

Acoustic black hole profiles for high-performance ultrasonic tweezers

Ultrasonic tweezers have provided significant capabilities for manipulating and handling objects in fluids across the fields of biomedical engineering, material preparation, micro/nano manufacturing, micro/nano robots, and so forth. However, most ultrasonic tweezers require precise design and professional operation, and an ultrasonic tweezer with more versatile, robust, and easy-to-use features is still scarce. In this study, through incorporating a one-dimensional acoustic black hole (ABH) structure, we propose and develop an innovative acoustic black hole tweezer (ABHT), which can easily realize multiple manipulation functionalities such as trapping of particles in various fluidic environments and cross-media extraction of particles. Numerical simulation results show that the ABH-enabled focused flexural waves at the tweezer’s tip can generate strong acoustofluidic effects including acoustic radiation forces on particles and acoustic streaming for particle trapping. We experimentally evaluate the performance of our ABHT, and also propose and demonstrate the topological device design with the high-throughput configurations. This work indicates that besides the conventional vibro-acoustic applications such as vibration mitigation and energy harvesting, ABHs can also play an effective role in ultrasonic particle manipulation devices. We believe the employment of ABHs would spur the emergence of more novel and useful ultrasonic particle manipulation and acoustofluidic devices in the future.

Research Trends of Piezoelectric Nanomaterials in Biomedical Engineering

Piezoelectric nanomaterials are functional materials that hold a great promise for the nanoscale conversion of mechanical energy and electrical signals. Owing to their excellent electromechanical dependence, catalytic activity, and response sensitivity, piezoelectric nanomaterials are widely used in energy harvesting, sensors, actuators, resonators, and medical detectors. Nano‐piezoelectric materials exhibit unique electrical and chemical activities in the field of biomedical engineering, such as disease diagnosis and treatment. The working principles, device‐design mechanics, and classification of piezoelectric nanomaterials are systematically reviewed. Then, the recent advances in piezoelectric nanomaterials and their applications in tissue regeneration, antitumor/antibacterial therapy, cell force detection, controlled drug release, and pathological/physiological parameter monitoring are highlighted. Finally, the perspectives on the development of future smart piezoelectric nanomaterials, and how they can serve as a building block to inspire and impact the development of novel diagnosis and treatment applications, are presented.

Firing behavior of single motor units of the tibialis anterior in human walking as non-invasively revealed by HDsEMG decomposition

Objective. Investigation of the firing behavior of motor units (MUs) provides essential neuromuscular control information because MUs are the smallest organizational component of the neuromuscular system. The MUs activated during human infants’ leg movements and rodent locomotion, mainly controlled by the spinal central pattern generator (CPG), show highly synchronous firing. In addition to spinal CPGs, the cerebral cortex is involved in neuromuscular control during walking in human adults. Based on the difference in the neural control mechanisms of locomotion between rodent, human infants and adults, MU firing behavior during adult walking probably has some different features from the other populations. However, so far, the firing activity of MUs in human adult walking has been largely unknown due to technical issues. Approach. Recent technical advances allow noninvasive investigation of MU firing by high-density surface electromyogram (HDsEMG) decomposition. We investigated the MU firing behavior of the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle during walking at a slow speed by HDsEMG decomposition. Main results. We found recruitment threshold modulation of MU between walking and steady isometric contractions. Doublet firings, and gait phase-specific firings were also observed during walking. We also found high MU synchronization during walking over a wide range of frequencies, probably including cortical and spinal CPG-related components. The amount of MU synchronization was modulated between the gait phases and motor tasks. These results suggest that the central nervous system flexibly controls MU firing to generate appropriate force of TA during human walking. Significance. This study revealed the MU behavior during walking at a slow speed and demonstrated the feasibility of noninvasive investigation of MUs during dynamic locomotor tasks, which will open new frontiers for the study of neuromuscular systems in the fields of neuroscience and biomedical engineering.

Multidisciplinary Learning Using Online Networking in Biomedical Engineering

Multifaceted thinking is important to tackle global issues for a sustainable society. It is difficult to select useful information from big data with one-sided thinking. This article takes as an example the controversy related to "vaccines" and "masks" in pandemics. Online education is useful to help control of infectious diseases. Face-to-face group meetings make it easy to interrupt group activities for individual activities. Online meetings are considering various ideas as an alternative to face-to-face meetings. The field of biomedical engineering includes faculties and students from diverse backgrounds. "Cross-cultural exchange" is also useful for multifaceted experiences. With the keyword "life support technology," a Japanese academic society and a Thai university conducted online networking for information exchange. The academic society is working to encourage students. The university is developing new fields. Information exchange is expected to lead to further developments in complex fields. It is expected to lead to the development of human resources that can deal with global problems.