Biomatter

In an effort to design biomaterials that may promote repair of the central nervous system, 3-dimensional scaffolds made of electrospun poly lactic acid nanofibers with interconnected pores were fabricated. These scaffolds were functionalized with polyallylamine to introduce amine groups by wet chemistry. Experimental conditions of the amination protocol were thoroughly studied and selected to introduce a high amount of amine group while preserving the mechanical and structural properties of the scaffold. Subsequent covalent grafting of epidermal growth factor was then performed to further tailor these aminated structures...

Glass ionomer cements (GIC) are known as a non-bioactive dental cement. During setting the GIC have an acidic pH, driven by the acrylic acid component. It is a challenge to make GIC alkaline without disturbing its mechanical properties. One strategy was to add slowly reacting systems with an alkaline pH. The aim of the present study is to investigate the possibility of forming a bioactive dental material based on the combination of glass ionomer cement and calcium silicates. Two types of GIC were used as control...

With the increasing elderly population an increase in the number of bony fractures associated to age-related diseases such as osteoporosis also follows. The relatively high stiffness of the acrylic bone cements used in these patients has been suggested to give raise to a suboptimal load distribution surrounding the cement in vivo, and hence contribute to clinical complications, such as additional fractures. The aim of this study was to develop a low-modulus bone cement, based on currently used, commercially available poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) cements for vertebroplasty...

Pure iron has been demonstrated as a potential candidate for biodegradable metal stents due to its appropriate biocompatibility, suitable mechanical properties and uniform biodegradation behavior. The competing parameters that control the safety and the performance of BMS include proper strength-ductility combination, biocompatibility along with matching rate of corrosion with healing rate of arteries. Being a micrometre-scale biomedical device, the mentioned variables have been found to be governed by the average grain size of the bulk material...

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We describe direct effects of strontium ranelate on the interaction of osteoblastic cells with different titanium substrates. Our goal was to better understand the potential of this drug for improving the efficacy of bone implants. Treatment was done with 0.12 and 0.5 mM Sr(2+) of strontium ranelate in cell culture. We analyzed cell response to the drug on titanium substrates with surface topographies obtained using acid etching, electro-erosion processing, sandblasting, and machine-tooling. Treatment preserved the initial cell adhesion to the substrates, cell shape parameters (area, aspect ratio, circularity, and solidity), and the orientation of cells on grooved surfaces...

The present study investigated the influence of granule size of 2 biphasic bone substitutes (BoneCeramic® 400-700 μm and 500-1000 μm) on the induction of multinucleated giant cells (MNGCs) and implant bed vascularization in a subcutaneous implantation model in rats. Furthermore, degradation mechanisms and particle phagocytosis of both materials were examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Both granule types induced tissue reactions involving primarily mononuclear cells and only small numbers of MNGCs...

Tissue engineering scaffolds are often designed without appropriate consideration for the translational potential of the material. Solid scaffolds implanted into central nervous system (CNS) tissue to promote regeneration may require tissue resection to accommodate implantation. Or alternatively, the solid scaffold may be cut or shaped to better fit an irregular injury geometry, but some features of the augmented scaffold may fail to integreate with surrounding tissue reducing regeneration potential. To create a biomaterial able to completely fill the irregular geometry of CNS injury and yet still provide sufficient cell migratory cues, an injectable, hybrid scaffold was created to present the physical architecture of electrospun fibers in an agarose/methylcellulose hydrogel...

Tissue engineering is a rapidly advancing technology in the field of regenerative medicine. For the transplantation of cell sheets, a carrier must maintain the shape of a cell sheet from a culture dish to affected sites as well as release the sheet easily onto the lesion. In this study, we examined the utility of a novel, poly(lactic acid)-based carrier for cell sheets transplantation to the cornea of dogs and the skin of rats. The poly(lactic acid)-based carrier easily picked a cell sheet up from the dish, fit to the shape of the transplantation sites, and saved time for cell sheets detachment comparing to a conventional carrier...

The use of biomolecules as coatings on biomaterials is recognized to constitute a promising approach to modulate the biological response of the host. In this work, we propose a coating composed by 2 biomolecules susceptible to provide complementary properties for cardiovascular applications: fibronectin (FN) to enhance endothelialization, and phosphorylcholine (PRC) for its non thrombogenic properties. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) was selected as model substrate mainly because it is largely used in cardiovascular applications...

The morphology of thin films has been extensively studied in the last years. The properties of a thin film are closely related to its microstructure, especially to its morphology and surface roughness. Optical reflectivity, conductivity, and porosity are characteristics that depend on the film structure. The knowledge of atomistic details of the thin film growth process is useful for the development of new techniques and the control of thin films and new materials. Models of growth process are very powerful tools that can help researchers to predict and control physical, chemical, and mechanical properties...

Biomaterials capable of delivering controlled quantities of bioactive agents, while maintaining mechanical integrity, are needed for a variety of cell contacting applications. We describe here a nanotemplating strategy toward porous, polyelectrolyte-based thin films capable of controlled biomolecular loading and release. Films are formed via the layer-by-layer assembly of charged polymers and nanoparticles (NP), then chemically cross-linked to increase mechanical rigidity and stability, and finally exposed to tetrahydrofuran to dissolve the NP and create an intra-film porous network...

The modification of biomaterial surfaces with biomolecules influences the biological response. In this work, caboxymethyldextrans (CMD) with different degrees of substitution have been grafted to surfaces by introduction of amino moieties directly onto the substrate surface. Polytetrafluoroethylene was selected as a model substrate for biomaterial as it is already largely used for cardiovascular clinical applications. Firstly, CMD polymers were characterized by FTIR, (1)H-NMR, and conductimetric titration. Then, the coatings have been analyzed by XPS to confirm the grafting and determine the composition...

Insufficient bone anchoring is a major limitation of artificial substitutes for connective osteoarticular tissues. The use of coatings containing osseoconductive ceramic particles is one of the actively explored strategies to improve osseointegration and strengthen the bone-implant interface for general tissue engineering. Our hypothesis is that hydroxyapatite (HA) particles can be coated robustly on specific assemblies of PVA hydrogel fibers for the potential anchoring of ligament replacements. A simple dip-coating method is described to produce composite coatings made of microscopic hydroxyapatite (HA) particles dispersed in a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) matrix...

The aim of this paper was to evaluate the usefulness of the sol-gel method application, to modificate the surface of the Ti6Al7Nb alloy and the cpTi titanium (Grade 4) with SiO 2 oxide, applied on the vascular implants to improve their hemocompatibility. Mechanical treatment was followed by film deposition on surface of the titanium samples. An appropriate selection of the process parameters was verified in the studies of corrosion, using potentiodynamic and impedance method. A test was conducted in the solution simulating blood vessels environment, in simulated body fluid at t = 37...

Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) was performed on ZK60 alloy and pure Mg in the temperature range 150-250 °C. A significant grain refinement was detected after ECAP leading to an ultrafine grain size (UFG) and enhanced formability during extrusion process. Comparing to conventional coarse grained samples, fracture elongation of pure Mg and ZK60 alloy were significantly improved by 130% and 100%, respectively, while the tensile strength remained at high level. Extrusion was performed on ECAP processed billets to produce small tubes (with outer/inner diameter of 4/2...

The morphology of thin films has been extensively studied in the last years. The properties of a thin film are closely related to its microstructure, especially to its morphology and surface roughness. Optical reflectivity, conductivity, and porosity are characteristics that depend on the film structure. The knowledge of atomistic details of the thin film growth process is useful for the development of new techniques and the control of thin films and new materials. Models of growth process are very powerful tools that can help researchers to predict and control physical, chemical, and mechanical properties...

Biomaterials capable of delivering controlled quantities of bioactive agents, while maintaining mechanical integrity, are needed for a variety of cell contacting applications. We describe here a nanotemplating strategy toward porous, polyelectrolyte-based thin films capable of controlled biomolecular loading and release. Films are formed via the layer-by-layer assembly of charged polymers and nanoparticles (NP), then chemically cross-linked to increase mechanical rigidity and stability, and finally exposed to tetrahydrofuran to dissolve the NP and create an intra-film porous network...

The adherence of Platinum thin film on Si/SiO2 wafer was studies using Chromium, Titanium or Alumina (Cr, Ti, Al2O3) as interlayer. The adhesion of Pt is a fundamental property in different areas, for example in MEMS devices, which operate at high temperature conditions, as well as in biomedical applications, where the problem of adhesion of a Pt film to the substrate is known as a major challenge in several industrial applications health and in biomedical devices, such as for example in the stents. We investigated the properties of Chromium, Titanium, and Alumina (Cr, Ti, and Al2O3) used as adhesion layers of Platinum (Pt) electrode...

The modification of biomaterial surfaces with biomolecules influences the biological response. In this work, caboxymethyldextrans (CMD) with different degrees of substitution have been grafted to surfaces by introduction of amino moieties directly onto the substrate surface. Polytetrafluoroethylene was selected as a model substrate for biomaterial as it is already largely used for cardiovascular clinical applications. Firstly, CMD polymers were characterized by FTIR, (1)H-NMR, and conductimetric titration. Then, the coatings have been analyzed by XPS to confirm the grafting and determine the composition...