Modern Biomedical Technologies Research Articles

Functionalization of Inorganic Nanoparticles for Bioimaging Applications

Modern biomedical imaging technologies have led to significant advances in diagnosis and therapy. Because most disease processes occur at the molecular and cellular levels, researchers continue to face challenges in viewing and understanding these processes precisely and in real time. The ideal imaging resolution would be in nanometers, because most biological processes take place on this length scale. Therefore, the functionalization of nanoparticles (NPs) and their use in therapeutic and diagnostic applications are of great interest. Molecular and cellular imaging agents made from inorganic NPs have been developed to probe such biological events noninvasively. The conjugation of tiny NPs with specific biomolecules allows researchers to target the desired location, reduce overall toxicity, and boost the efficiency of the imaging probes. In this Account, we review recent research on the functionalization of NPs for bioimaging applications. Several types of NPs have been employed for bioimaging applications, including metal (Au, Ag), metal oxide (Fe(3)O(4)), and semiconductor nanocrystals (e.g. quantum dots (QDs) and magnetic quantum dots (MQDs)). The preparation of NPs for bioimaging applications can include a variety of steps: synthesis, coating, surface functionalization, and bioconjugation. The most common strategies of engineering NP surfaces involve physical adsorption or chemisorption of the desired ligands onto the surface. Chemisorption or covalent linkages are preferred, and the coated NPs should possess high colloidal stability, biocompatibility, water solubility, and functional groups for further bioconjugation. Many of the functionalization techniques that have been reported in the literature suffer from limitations such as complex synthesis steps, poor biocompatibility, low stability, and hydrophobic products. Coating strategies based on chemisorption and ligand exchange often provide a better way to tailor the surface properties of NPs. After conjugation with the appropriate targeting ligands, antibodies, or proteins, the NPs may exhibit highly selective binding, making them useful for fluorescence imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, and multimodal imaging.

Choices, reasons and feelings: Prenatal diagnosis as disability dilemma

This paper explores contemporary policies and practices surrounding prenatal diagnosis, and seeks to challenge positive or simplistic readings of these modern biomedical technologies by asking questions such as: what about feelings? How far is choice real? Can disability be eliminated? How will diagnosis change in the future? Discussion of lived experience of diagnosis is required to put ethical or political debates in context.

Can Product‐by‐Process Patent Claims Provide Protection for Modernized Chinese Herbal Medicine?

The rising importance of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) in alleviating human suffering has created a potential niche for East Asian countries in the profitable global pharmaceutical market. However, modern CHM that involves modern biomedical technologies presents new issues regarding the proper degree and methods of protection that apply to these products or inventions. Pharmaceutical industries most commonly seek patent protection, which offers different types of protections for different types of inventions. This article explores whether product‐by‐process patent claims provide proper protection to CHM product inventions and the likely implications of such an approach. It concludes that product‐by‐process patent claims may offer proper protection for CHM product inventions at the current status quo but might be an inadequate approach when the industry matures in the future.

Surface plasmon resonance biosensor for dopamine using D3 dopamine receptor as a biorecognition molecule

In modern biomedical technology, development of high performance sensing methods for dopamine (DA) is a critical issue because of its vital role in human metabolism. We report here, a new kind of bioaffinity sensor for DA based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) using a D3 dopamine receptor (DA-RC) as a recognition element. A conjugate of DA was synthesized using bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein and was characterized by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). The biosensor surface was constructed by the immobilization of the DA–BSA conjugate onto an SPR gold surface by physical adsorption. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) investigations revealed that the DA–BSA conjugate was homogeneously distributed over the sensor surface. Specific interaction of the DA-RC with the immobilized DA–BSA conjugate was studied by SPR. Based on the principle of indirect competitive inhibition, the biosensor could detect DA in a linear dynamic range from 85pg/ml (ppt) to 700ng/ml (ppb). The biosensor was highly specific for DA and showed no significant interference from potent interferences such as ascorbic acid (AA), uric acid (UA) and other DA analogues viz., 3,4 dihydroxyphenyl acetic acid (DOPAC) and 3-(3,4 dihydroxyphenyl)-alanine (DOPA). The sensor surface displayed a high level of stability during repeated regeneration and affinity reaction cycles. Since this biosensor is simple, effective and is based on utilization of natural receptor, our study presents an encouraging scope for development of portable detection systems for in-vitro and in-vivo measurement of DA in clinical and medical diagnostics.

Bioengineering Assessment of Acupuncture, Part 4: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

In the fourth part of this review article, research on the topic of acupuncture and functional magnetic resonance imaging is described. Needle as well as painless laserneedle stimulation have led to significant changes in different areas of the brain. With the help of modern biomedical engineering equipment and neuroscience, some of acupuncture's secrets have begun to be revealed. The neuro-modulating effects require further investigation in a larger population sample.

Death and dying in Japan.

Death and Dying in Japan Rihito Kimura (bio) A majority of Japanese, at present, feel that the modern biomedical and technological innovations pertaining to human life and death have been forcing a change in our common understanding of what, historically, was simply the natural event and process of death and dying. The meaning of death and the dying process in our lives is changing as have the traditional criteria for determining death, namely, cessation of heartbeat and respiration. An individual’s death should be a personal and private matter as well as a familial, communal, and social matter. It has been regarded as such for many thousands of years in our Japanese society and culture. It is well understood that our traditional socio-cultural understanding of human life positively admits the natural process of death as the final event of life. The ideas expressed in Zen-Buddhist phrases such as “accept death as it is” and “life-death as one phenomenon” have been key motifs totally integrated into our traditional understanding of life (Tomomatsu 1939). However, the traditional perception of death as an acceptable process has [End Page 374] been vanishing as the Japanese have applied modern biomedical technologies more frequently in well-equipped hospital settings. Although the involvement of family members in the process of dying and particularly in the death event continues in a variety of ways, the care of dying patients in Japan is becoming much more similar to that delivered in advanced hospital settings in many countries of the world, than it is different. Now, in Japan, a majority of people end their lives in the hospital, surrounded by high-technology machines. Yet, in a survey by the Yomiuri Shimbun of 15 June 1991, half of the respondents said they would prefer to die at home. In addition, there has been a tradition of not explaining to terminally ill people the true nature of their condition, on the ground that this is most appropriate way to proceed (Kashiwagi 1994, pp. 78–85). However, views on this matter are changing. There is a gradual move toward telling patients the truth, and the notion of informed consent has been widely publicized in the clinical setting (Leflar 1996, pp. 96–107). In the 1991 nationwide opinion poll by the Yomiuri Shimbun, 65 percent of the participants said that they would like to be given full diagnostic information about themselves even if they were terminally ill. Nevertheless, only 22 percent of the people questioned said they themselves would definitely be prepared to disclose such information to a family member. The same survey indicated that 78 percent of people considered palliative care desirable, even though it might shorten life, while 16 percent thought life should be sustained as long as possible, irrespective of the pain that patients might be suffering. Challenges of Care for the Dying A special task force on terminal care, set up by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, issued a report in 1989 that encouraged the disclosure of diagnostic information to patients, provided that consideration was given to patients’ life histories, personalities, relationships with family members, and other factors. The report favored the use of drugs for pain control; it also dealt with matters such as spiritual requirements and the care of the family members. Traditionally, the physician-patient relationship in Japan is based on a complete and unquestioning trust of the physician by the patient, such that the physician acts to make health care decisions on behalf of the patient (Kimura 1991). However, increasingly it is believed that people should not have to accept without question the authority of doctors in the treatment of disease. Responsibility for the care of the dying should be shared between family members and all health professionals, not only physicians. Changes are needed in the mentalities of health care providers, patients, and family members, and it must be recognized that the medical system and institutions are not immutable (Annas and Miller 1994, pp. 374–76). [End Page 375] To complicate matters even further, although a patient’s family is informed of the incurable nature of the disease affecting their family member, the patient, as noted above, usually is not told of...

Psychology and Health: Obstacles and Opportunities1

This paper begins with an overview of key achievements in health psychology. It describes major impediments to progress in the field, as well as opportunities for developing a strong scientific basis of efforts to modify health‐damaging behavior. Strategies for capitalizing upon the opportunities are suggested. These include enhanced efforts at theory development, use of modern biomedical technology for in vivo research, experimentation with specific alternative research funding mechanisms, establishing procedures for training interdisciplinary researchers, and increased efforts by individual scientists to broaden their understanding of the relationship of their field to government. The importance of such initiatives to the continued growth of health psychology is emphasized.

A laminar-flow sterile products department. An example of modern biomedical engineering.

The paper describes a new sterile products department for Burroughs Wellcome & Co. (Aust.) Ltd, at Rosebery, Sydney, based on the principle of laminar-flow techniques for contamination control, and tabulates the results of particle and bacteria counts carried out within the new working areas.

Machines in Medicine.

This brief book cannot be recommended for physicians. It is a very simple presentation of a few machines used in medicine such as the electrocardiograph and the electroencephalograph machine. A glossary of 125 machines used by the medical profession is included at the end. The book is written primarily for the intelligent laymen to provide some comprehension of modern biomedical engineering. The work, which can be read in less than one hour, might be of some value to a beginning medical student to afford some orientation into the use of machines in present and future medical practice.