Field Of Biomedical Engineering Research Articles

Agarose‐based hydrogels with tunable, charge‐selective permeability properties

AbstractPhysiologically, a hallmark of biological hydrogels is their ability to selectively trap diffusing molecules and particles. And indeed, there is now increasing interest in using selective hydrogel barriers for applications in biomedicine and medical engineering. However, when employing synthetic polymers to create hydrogels with selective permeabilities, controlling the type and strength of the ensuing filtration process is difficult. Here, we generate hybrid gels with adjustable selectivity profiles by mixing a series of (bio‐)macromolecules with agarose. Depending on the type and concentration of the incorporated macromolecules, those hybrid gels achieve a selective retardation of the diffusive translocation of either positively or negatively charged dextrans at both, acidic and neutral pH. Furthermore, we demonstrate three strategies that provide hydrogels with sequestered patches of both, cationic and anionic binding sites, thus creating symmetric charge (i.e., electrostatic bandpass) filters which still allow neutral molecules to pass. Moreover, such agarose matrices offer a high level of versatility as their permeability profiles can be tailored at will by integrating macromolecules with desired physico‐chemical properties. Thus, those agarose‐based hybrid gels may serve as a powerful platform to engineer adjustable and versatile materials for a broad range of future applications in the field of biomedical engineering.

Freeze-Drying Process for the Fabrication of Collagen-Based Sponges as Medical Devices in Biomedical Engineering.

This paper presents a systematic review of a key sector of the much promising and rapidly evolving field of biomedical engineering, specifically on the fabrication of three-dimensional open, porous collagen-based medical devices, using the prominent freeze-drying process. Collagen and its derivatives are the most popular biopolymers in this field, as they constitute the main components of the extracellular matrix, and therefore exhibit desirable properties, such as biocompatibility and biodegradability, for in vivo applications. For this reason, freeze-dried collagen-based sponges with a wide variety of attributes can be produced and have already led to a wide range of successful commercial medical devices, chiefly for dental, orthopedic, hemostatic, and neuronal applications. However, collagen sponges display some vulnerabilities in other key properties, such as low mechanical strength and poor control of their internal architecture, and therefore many studies focus on the settlement of these defects, either by tampering with the steps of the freeze-drying process or by combining collagen with other additives. Furthermore, freeze drying is still considered a high-cost and time-consuming process that is often used in a non-optimized manner. By applying an interdisciplinary approach and combining advances in other technological fields, such as in statistical analysis, implementing the Design of Experiments, and Artificial Intelligence, the opportunity arises to further evolve this process in a sustainable and strategic manner, and optimize the resulting products as well as create new opportunities in this field.

Atomistic simulation of α‐Al2O3 nanoparticle plastic anisotropy under compression

AbstractAlumina (α‐Al2O3) is one of the major ceramic oxides commonly used for its advanced mechanical properties. Since recently, nanoscale α‐Al2O3 requires more in‐depth characterization related to ceramic powder compaction and sintering as well as for applications in the field of biomedical engineering. In this study, we use classical molecular dynamics simulations with a 2/3‐body interatomic potential to investigate the mechanical response and the elementary deformation processes of α‐Al2O3 nanoparticles under compression. Results show that α‐Al2O3 nanoparticles resist up to particularly elevated critical force before yielding due to a surface nucleation process including various kinds of dislocations and nanotwins strongly sensitive to orientation and temperature. Results are rationalized in terms of stacking‐fault energy and shear stress analysis and are discussed in the light of recent micromechanical tests as well as more fundamental observations performed in the bulk material.

Recent advances of cellular stimulation with triboelectric nanogenerators.

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are new energy collection devices that have the characteristics of high efficiency, low cost, miniaturization capability, and convenient manufacture. TENGs mainly utilize the triboelectric effect to obtain mechanical energy from organisms or the environment, and this mechanical energy is then converted into and output as electrical energy. Bioelectricity is a phenomenon that widely exists in various cellular processes, including cell proliferation, senescence, apoptosis, as well as adjacent cells' communication and coordination. Therefore, based on these features, TENGs can be applied in organisms to collect energy and output electrical stimulation to act on cells, changing their activities and thereby playing a role in regulating cellular function and interfering with cellular fate, which can further develop into new methods of health care and disease intervention. In this review, we first introduce the working principle of TENGs and their working modes, and then summarize the current research status of cellular function regulation and fate determination stimulated by TENGs, and also analyze their application prospects for changing various processes of cell activity. Finally, we discuss the opportunities and challenges of TENGs in the fields of life science and biomedical engineering, and propose a variety of possibilities for their potential development direction.

Construction of superhydrophobic GO/Ca coating on AZ31 magnesium alloy for enhanced anti-corrosion performance

The application of magnesium alloys has garnered increasing interests in transportation, electronics and biomedical engineering fields, and the fabrication of superhydrophobic coatings on the surface of magnesium alloys is considered as an effective means to improve the corrosion resistance. However, major technical barriers restricting its application lie in the long-term durability and mechanical properties of superhydrophobic coatings. Herein, a calcium myristate coating with graphene oxide (GO) is fabricated on AZ31 magnesium alloy by electrodeposition. The coating is constructed in a particularly simple and gentle way by the synergy of inorganic nanomaterials and organic acid salts. It was found that the deposition time significantly affected the morphology, thickness and wettability of the GO/Ca coating and further influenced the corrosion resistance and durability. The best corrosion resistance is obtained when the deposition time is 30 min. With 30 min deposition, the corrosion current density of the substrate was reduced by 3 orders to (2.38 ± 1.02)× 10−9 A cm−2, and the impedance modulus at the lowest frequency could reach 108 Ω cm2. And after 21 days of immersion, the impedance modulus at low frequency of GO/Ca-30 is still as high as 105. It could be attributed to the tortuous path and denser structure with introduction of GO. Besides this, the scratch test and adhesion strength describe that the GO/Ca coating presents a good adhesion to the substrate. Considering its satisfying corrosion resistance, long-term durability and high adhesion strength, it is expected that the as-prepared superhydrophobic coating on AZ31 alloy is promising for anti-corrosion application.

Analytical Study of (Ag-Graphene)/Blood Hybrid Nanofluid Influenced by (Platelets-Cylindrical)nanoparticles and Joule Heating via VIM.

Applications: Flow-through permeable media have a wide range of applications in biomedical engineering, geophysical fluid dynamics, and recovery and refinement of underground reservoirs and large-scale chemical applications such as filters, catalysts, and adsorbents. Therefore, this study on a nanoliquid in a permeable channel is conducted under physical constraints. Purpose and Methodology: The key purpose of this research is to introduce a new biohybrid nanofluid model (BHNFM) with (Ag-G)hybridnanoparticles with additional significant physical effects of quadratic radiation, resistive heating, and magnetic field. The flow configuration is set between the expanding/contracting channels, which has broad applications, especially in biomedical engineering. The modified BHNFM was achieved after the implementation of the bitransformative scheme, and then to obtain physical results of the model, the variational iteration method was applied. Core Findings: Based on a thorough observation of the presented results, it is determined that the biohybrid nanofluid (BHNF) is more effective than mono-nano BHNFs in controlling fluid movement. The desired fluid movement for practical purposes can be achieved by varying the wall contraction number (α1 = -0.5, -1.0, -1.5, -2.0) and with stronger magnetic effects (M = 1.0,9.0,17.0,25.0). Furthermore, increasing the number of pores on the surface of the wall causes the BHNF particles to move very slowly. The temperature of the BHNF is affected by the quadratic radiation (Rd), heating source (Q1), and temperature ratio number (θr), and this is a dependable approach to acquire a significant amount of heat. The findings of the current study can aid in a better understanding of parametric predictions in order to produce exceptional heat transfer in BHNFs and suitable parametric ranges to control fluid flow inside the working area. The model results would also be useful for individuals working in the fields of blood dynamics and biomedical engineering.

Comparative study of ternary hybrid nanofluids with role of thermal radiation and Cattaneo-Christov heat flux between double rotating disks

Heat and mass transfer are crucial to numerous technical and commercial operations, including air conditioning, machinery power collectors, crop damage, processing food, heat transfer mechanisms, and cooling, among numerous others. The fundamental purpose of this research is to use the Cattaneo-Christov heat flux model to disclose an MHD flow of ternary hybrid nanofluid through double discs. The results of a heat source and a magnetic field are therefore included in a system of PDEs that model the occurrences. These are transformed into an ODE system using similarity replacements. The first-order differential equations that emerge are then handled using the computational technique Bvp4c shooting scheme. The Bvp4c function in MATLAB is used to numerically solve the governing equations. The influence of the key important factors on velocity, temperature, nanoparticles concentration, and is illustrated visually. Furthermore, increasing the volume fraction of nanoparticles improves thermal conduction, increasing the heat transfer rate at the top disc. The graph indicates that a slight increase in melting parameter rapidly declines the velocity distribution profile of nanofluid. The temperature profile was boosted due to the growing outcomes of the Prandtl number. The increasing variations of the thermal relaxation parameter decline the thermal distribution profile. Furthermore, for some exceptional instances, the obtained numerical answers were compared to previously disclosed data, yielding a satisfactory compromise. We believe that this discovery will have far-reaching ramifications in engineering, medicine, and the field of biomedical technology. Additionally, this model can be used to examine biological mechanisms, surgical techniques, nano-pharmacological drug delivery systems, and the therapy of diseases like cholesterol using nanotechnology.

Active Droplet Transport Induced by Moving Meniscus on a Slippery Magnetic Responsive Micropillar Array.

Intelligent droplet manipulation plays a crucial role in both scientific research and industrial technology. Inspired by nature, meniscus driving is an ingenious way to spontaneously transport droplets. However, the shortages of short-range transport and droplet coalescence limit its application. Here, an active droplet manipulation strategy based on the slippery magnetic responsive micropillar array (SMRMA) is reported. With the aid of a magnetic field, the micropillar array bends and induces the infusing oil to form a moving meniscus, which can attract nearby droplets and transport them for a long range. Significantly, clustered droplets on SMRMA can be isolated by micropillars, avoiding droplet coalescence. Moreover, through adjusting the arrangement of the micropillars of SMRMA, multi-functional droplet manipulation such as unidirectional droplet transport, multi-droplet transport, droplet mixing, and droplet screening can be achieved. This work provides a promising approach for intelligent droplet manipulation and unfolds broad application prospects in microfluidics, microchemical reaction, biomedical engineering, and other fields.

Quartz crystal Microbalance with dissipation monitoring for biomedical applications: Open source and low cost prototype with active temperature control

Advances in sensors have revolutionized the biomedical engineering field, having an extreme affinity for specific analytes also providing an effective, real-time, point-of-care testing for an accurate diagnosis. Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) is a well-established sensor that has been successfully applied in a broad range of applications to monitor and explore various surface interactions, in situ thin-film formations, and layer properties. This technology has gained interest in biomedical applications since novel QCM systems are able to work in liquid media. QCM with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) is an expanded version of a QCM that measures changes in damping properties of adsorbed layers thus providing information on its viscoelastic nature. In this article, an open source and low cost QCM-D prototype for biomedical applications was developed. In addition, the system was validated using different Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) concentrations due to its importance for many medical applications. The statistics show a bigger dissipation of the system as the fluid becomes more viscous, also having a very acceptable sensibility when temperature is controlled.

Study and development of dual core photonic crystal fiber for the employment of guided waves polarization modes

Abstract The properties of PCF have been emerged as an interesting field of research for sensing and detection of wavelengths of different refractive indices. These properties indicate that if analyte is used or not in the core of the PCF that does not influence on the sensor sensitivity. By reshaping the airhole’s size, wavelength sensitivity can be improved. The vast detection limit of refractive indices (RI) is taken 1.33–1.41. In addition, high amount of linearity is obtained at the limit of 1.33–1.42. After simulation, it is obtained that this work proposes high sensitivity of 4250 and 6200 nm/RIU for x and y polarization modes. Because of high sensing capability in the range of various frequencies, this PCF can be applicable for other simultaneous wavelength detection. This PCF also offers its eligibility on the field of biomedical technologies.

Multi-groove microneedles based wearable colorimetric sensor for simple and facile glucose detection

Microneedle technology is one of the advanced technologies in the field of biomedical engi-neering in recent years. It can penetrate the skin with minimal invasion for continuous health care monitoring. However, the current microneedles production process is complex, thus it can’t be widely used. This paper demonstrates a one-step preparation method for multi-groove microneedle(MN) arrays based on the refraction index variations of polyethylene glycol di-acrylate (PEGDA) in the process of photopolymerization. The multi-groove microneedle can penetrate the skin and extract skin interstitial fluid (ISF) by capillary action. Hydrodynamic simulations showed that the liquid was risen in the multi-groove MNs by capillary force. Glu-cose was successfully extracted from mice and analyzed using a paper-based glucose sensor in-tegrated with the multi-groove MNs. The results reveal that the multi-groove MNs have potential for continuous glucose monitoring and precise diagnosis of diabetes.

Pulsating magnetohydrodynamic flow of Fe[formula omitted]O[formula omitted]-blood based micropolar nanofluid between two vertical porous walls with Cattaneo–Christov heat flux and entropy generation

The present article is aimed to investigate the impact of entropy generation on pulsating hydromagnetic flow of a micropolar nanofluid between two vertical porous walls using the Cattaneo–Christov heat flux model. Here Fe3O4(magnetite) is taken as a nanoparticle and blood as micropolar fluid (base fluid). The significance of viscous dissipation, Ohmic heating, and thermal radiation are considered. This model is noteworthy in the field of magnetic bioseparation, pressure surges, magnetofection agent, biomedical engineering, cancer therapeutic, artificial kidney, brain tumors, and nano-drug delivery in the arteries. The governing partial differential equations are transformed into the system of ordinary differential equations by deploying the perturbation process and then solved numerically by employing the fourth-order Runge–Kutta scheme with the support of the shooting technique. The flow variables like velocity, microrotation, temperature, entropy generation, and Bejan number are depicted graphically and discussed in detail. The heat transfer rate is displayed through a table. The results depict that the velocity is diminishing with the enhancement of coupling parameter, Hartmann number, and nanoparticle volume fraction. The temperature of micropolar nanofluid is increasing with an increment of viscous dissipation, thermal radiation, and heat source while it is reducing with the enhancement of magnetic field, thermal relaxation time, and heat sink parameter. The entropy generation is diminished by increasing the values of Hartmann number, thermal relaxation, and coupling parameter. Further, the Bejan number is enhanced by varying thermal radiation and nanoparticle volume fraction.

A Review of Soft Electronic Devices Based on Flexible and Stretchable Materials for Cardiac Monitoring

Purpose of the study: The number one killer, cardiovascular disease, has sharply increased in recent years. For early diagnosis and prevention, continuous cardiac monitoring is crucial, and flexible, stretchable electronic devices have become essential instruments to record cardiac activity. Bioelectronics has greatly improved from recent developments in soft, ultrathin bioelectronics that have been made possible by breakthroughs in soft materials and novel device designs.
 Methodology: This study focuses on flexible and stretchable materials as well as design strategies for current developments in soft electronics-based wearable and implantable devices for cardiac monitoring.
 Main Findings: The mechanical deformability in soft bioelectronics has enabled researchers to obtain high-quality bio-signals and reduce long-term negative effects in vivo. They provide close, long-term integration with cardiac tissues due to their thin and soft characteristics, allowing for continuous, high-quality, and wide coverage in cardiac monitoring.
 Applications of this study: This review is anticipated to provide timely and significant information for prospective audiences in the fields of material science and biomedical engineering, who seek a concise summary of key technologies, as well as biomedical fields who may be interested in the clinical implications of soft bioelectronics for cardiac healthcare.
 Novelty/Originality of this study: The materials, fabrication techniques, and device designs for flexible and stretchable electronics are reviewed with a particular emphasis on flexible and soft materials.

Biomedical materials benefit health

Biomedical engineering is acclaimed as the most effective technological advancement—the stepping- stone toward better human health. An in-depth look into biomedical engineering reveals that emerging materials are recognized as the turbocharger for its progress and the source of innovation. For example, the application of advanced nanomaterials in drug delivery, bioimaging, gene therapy, and so on are pioneering new ways to diagnose and treat cancer and other diseases; tissue repair and organ regeneration are no longer dreams, but attainable miracles because of 3D bioprinted scaffold materials; flexible electronic materials and brain-computer interface chips remove barriers in human-computer interaction, enabling scientists to better interpret the mysteries of life. In addition, functional materials construct diverse diagnosis and treatment equipment, such as microfluidics and major medical devices. Evolving from the deep integration of materials science and biomedical engineering, this popular and innovative research field will enormously benefit people's life and health. Upholding the philosophy of “BME Materials Benefit Health,” BMEMat was launched under the auspices of Shandong University and Wiley. With a commitment to building the most valuable international platform to share knowledge and information, BMEMat covers all research advances related to functional materials for biomedical applications. The article types include Original Articles, Review Articles, Editorials, Short Communications, and Letters to the Editor (author guidelines are available at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/27517446/homepage/author-guidelines). BMEMat adopts an open-access publishing model and will expand the coverage of Wiley's current materials science journals into biomedical engineering. BMEMat creates an active community by attracting interdisciplinary research in biomedical engineering and materials science. Our professional editorial board comprises the most experienced scientists in the BME field. The Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Hong Liu from State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, is the winner of National Outstanding Youth Fund and is among the world's highly-cited scientists. We have nine Associate Editors on board to assist the Editor-in-Chief to expediate the peer review process: Prof. Xiaogang Liu from the National University of Singapore (Singapore), Prof. Wenbo Bu from Fudan University (China), Prof. Chuanbin Mao from University of Oklahoma (USA), Prof. Fan Yi from Shandong University (China), Prof. Andreu Cabot from Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (Spain), Prof. Xiaohu Gao from University of Washington, Seattle (USA), Prof. Angus Johnston from Monash University (Australia), Prof. Xingjie Liang from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (China), and Prof. Xuebin Yang from University of Leeds (UK). The elite editorial team with their diversity of insights and expertise will provide efficient peer review services and post-acceptance processes to our authors and reviewers, and present our readers with the most important, in-depth, and frontier basic and applied research achievements. We sincerely look forward to welcoming you—as a reader, author, reviewer or commenter—to engage with our journal. We believe that BMEMat will become one of the leading international publishing platforms in the interdisciplinary area of material science, biochemistry, biology, biomedical engineering, and medicine, by providing information on the most important advances in this field to a broader group of researchers and engineers from both academia and industry. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Abundant tannic acid modified gelatin/sodium alginate biocomposite hydrogels with high toughness, antifreezing, antioxidant and antibacterial properties

The acidity of high tannic acid (TA) content solution can destroy the structure of protein, such as gelatin (G). This causes a big challenge to introduce abundant TA into the G-based hydrogels. Here, the G-based hydrogel system with abundant TA as hydrogen bonds provider was constructed by a “protective film” strategy. The protective film around the composite hydrogel was first formed by the chelation of sodium alginate (SA) and Ca2+. Subsequently, abundant TA and Ca2+ were successively introduced into the hydrogel system by immersing method. This strategy effectively protected the structure of the designed hydrogel. After treatment with 0.3 w/v TA and 0.06 w/v Ca2+ solutions, the tensile modulus, elongation at break and toughness of G/SA hydrogel increased about 4-, 2-, and 6-fold, respectively. Besides, G/SA-TA/Ca2+ hydrogels exhibited good water retention, anti-freezing, antioxidant, antibacterial properties and low hemolysis ratio. Cell experiments showed that G/SA-TA/Ca2+ hydrogels possessed good biocompatibility and could promote cell migration. Therefore, G/SA-TA/Ca2+ hydrogels are expected to be used in the field of biomedical engineering. The strategy proposed in this work also provides a new idea for improving the properties of other protein-based hydrogels.

A novel methodology of MAF process via a multi-axis/multi-faceted polishing technique for enhancing surface quality of artificial hip joint component

This paper explores a novel methodology of magnetic abrasive finishing (MAF) process via a multi-axis/multi-faceted polishing technique to achieve a high surface accuracy of artificial hip joint component such as femoral head used in the field of biomedical engineering. In this process, movement actions are adapted to multiple axes on X, Y, Z, and A directions in the MAF process. Movement of eco-friendly polishing media was driven by magnetic poles on X and Y directions. These eco-friendly polishing media strongly acted against the rotational/vibrational surface of femoral head, creating a multi-faceted polishing of femoral head. Results showed that a novel methodology based on the multi-axis/multi-faceted polishing technique could achieve an ultra-fine and smooth surface polishing of femoral head within a short polishing time of 12 min without causing defects on the surface of a femoral head sample. An average surface roughness value (Sa) of femoral head was successfully improved from 0.301 μm to 0.044 μm. The average improvement in percentage change in Sa of femoral head as 85.38 % was achieved, resulting in the ultra-smooth surface polish on the femoral head surface. Results of this study validated the capability of a novel methodology of MAF process as an efficient and effective technique to achieve an ultra-smooth surface polish for medical components with advantages for biomaterials and biomedical engineering industry.

Non-interfacial self-assembly of synthetic protocells

BackgroundProtocell refers to the basic unit of life and synthetic molecular assembly with cell structure and function. The protocells have great applications in the field of biomedical technology. Simulating the morphology and function of cells is the key to the preparation of protocells. However, some organic solvents used in the preparation process of protocells would damage the function of the bioactive substance. Perfluorocarbon, which has no toxic effect on bioactive substances, is an ideal solvent for protocell preparation. However, perfluorocarbon cannot be emulsified with water because of its inertia.MethodsSpheroids can be formed in nature even without emulsification, since liquid can reshape the morphology of the solid phase through the scouring action, even if there is no stable interface between the two phases. Inspired by the formation of natural spheroids such as pebbles, we developed non-interfacial self-assembly (NISA) of microdroplets as a step toward synthetic protocells, in which the inert perfluorocarbon was utilized to reshape the hydrogel through the scouring action.ResultsThe synthetic protocells were successfully obtained by using NISA-based protocell techniques, with the morphology very similar to native cells. Then we simulated the cell transcription process in the synthetic protocell and used the protocell as an mRNA carrier to transfect 293T cells. The results showed that protocells delivered mRNAs, and successfully expressed proteins in 293T cells. Further, we used the NISA method to fabricate an artificial cell by extracting and reassembling the membrane, proteins, and genomes of ovarian cancer cells. The results showed that the recombination of tumor cells was successfully achieved with similar morphology as tumor cells. In addition, the synthetic protocell prepared by the NISA method was used to reverse cancer chemoresistance by restoring cellular calcium homeostasis, which verified the application value of the synthetic protocell as a drug carrier.ConclusionThis synthetic protocell fabricated by the NISA method simulates the occurrence and development process of primitive life, which has great potential application value in mRNA vaccine, cancer immunotherapy, and drug delivery.Graphical

Influences of rotation and mass and heat transfer on MHD peristaltic transport of Casson fluid through inclined plane

In the present analysis, we discussed the influence of heat and mass transfer on the hydro-magnetic peristaltic flow of a Casson fluid in a rotating inclined system through an asymmetric channel. The model governing equations are obtained, simplified by applying long wavelength and assumptions of low Reynolds number, and then addressed analytically. DSolve command of Mathematica software was used to solve these equations. The numerical results regarding the impacts of embedded parameters on axial velocity, secondary velocity, stream function, temperature, concentration, and streamline patterns are graphed and explained. It has been discovered that velocity slip reduces the size of the trapped bolus while the permeability parameter increases it. The velocity and temperature profiles decrease as the Casson fluid parameter and magnetic field strength increase. In the fields of biomedical engineering and crude oil refinement, the current problem is quite significant. The trapping phenomenon for different parameters is presented. The visual discussion of numerical results for various values of relevant physical parameters. The current work, which focuses on electromagnetic peristaltic pumps, offers several applications in biomedical engineering.

Ultrasonic High-Resolution Imaging and Acoustic Tweezers Using Ultrahigh Frequency Transducer: Integrative Single-Cell Analysis.

Ultrasound imaging is a highly valuable tool in imaging human tissues due to its non-invasive and easily accessible nature. Despite advances in the field of ultrasound research, conventional transducers with frequencies lower than 20 MHz face limitations in resolution for cellular applications. To address this challenge, we employed ultrahigh frequency (UHF) transducers and demonstrated their potential applications in the field of biomedical engineering, specifically for cell imaging and acoustic tweezers. The lateral resolution achieved with a 110 MHz UHF transducer was 20 μm, and 6.5 μm with a 410 MHz transducer, which is capable of imaging single cells. The results of our experiments demonstrated the successful imaging of a single PC-3 cell and a 15 μm bead using an acoustic scanning microscope equipped with UHF transducers. Additionally, the dual-mode multifunctional UHF transducer was used to trap and manipulate single cells and beads, highlighting its potential for single-cell studies in areas such as cell deformability and mechanotransduction.

Bioinformatics toolbox for exploring target mutation-induced drug resistance.

Drug resistance is increasingly among the main issues affecting human health and threatening agriculture and food security. In particular, developing approaches to overcome target mutation-induced drug resistance has long been an essential part of biological research. During the past decade, many bioinformatics tools have been developed to explore this type of drug resistance, and they have become popular for elucidating drug resistance mechanisms in a low cost, fast and effective way. However, these resources are scattered and underutilized, and their strengths and limitations have not been systematically analyzed and compared. Here, we systematically surveyed 59 freely available bioinformatics tools for exploring target mutation-induced drug resistance. We analyzed and summarized these resources based on their functionality, data volume, data source, operating principle, performance, etc. And we concisely discussed the strengths, limitations and application examples of these tools. Specifically, we tested some predictive tools and offered some thoughts from the clinician's perspective. Hopefully, this work will provide a useful toolbox for researchers working in the biomedical, pesticide, bioinformatics and pharmaceutical engineering fields, and a good platform for non-specialists to quickly understand drug resistance prediction.