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Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Displacement Micropump with Check Valves for Diabetes Care—The Challenge of Pumping Insulin at Negative Pressure
The displacement micropump with passive check valves is an attractive solution for precise insulin infusion in patients with type I diabetes. Unlike most insulin pumps that push insulin from a cartridge using a piston, a displacement micropump will first pull insulin from the reservoir before infusing it into the patient. This dual sequence introduces new challenges in terms of insulin stability, notably if the reservoir is not pressurized. After an introduction to displacement micropumps and a brief review of the insulin degradation mechanism, micropump design rules are discussed in light of microfluidic theory.
  • 871
  • 14 May 2024
Topic Review
Optical Detection of Pathogenic Bacteria
The optical detection of pathogenic bacteria is a growing area of ongoing research for clinically-focused applications. Different modalities, like vibrational spectroscopy, fluorescence, scattering- and polarization-based systems, have the potential to provide information about the biomolecular and morphological characteristics of a species for sample identification and differentiation. Additionally, growth pattern recognition, single-cell versus biofilm formations, cell motility and viability, cell mutation, and antibiotic resistance status can be studied with various optical modalities, providing great potential for rapid characterization of disease-causing pathogens.
  • 870
  • 03 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Artificial Pancreas
The artificial pancreas is a technology in development to help people with diabetes, primarily type 1, automatically and continuously control their blood glucose level by providing the substitute endocrine functionality of a healthy pancreas. The endocrine functionality of the pancreas is provided by islet cells which produce the hormones insulin and glucagon. Artificial pancreatic technology mimics the secretion of these hormones into the bloodstream in response to the body's changing blood glucose levels. Maintaining balanced blood sugar levels is crucial to the function of the brain, liver, and kidneys. Therefore, for type 1 patients, it is necessary that the levels be kept balanced when the body cannot produce insulin itself. The artificial pancreas is a broad term for different bio-engineering strategies currently in development to achieve these requirements. Different bio-engineering approaches under consideration include:
  • 863
  • 29 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Engineering Drug Delivery Systems
Engineering drug delivery systems (DDS) aim to release bioactive cargo to a specific site within the human body safely and efficiently. Hydrogels have been used as delivery matrices in different studies due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and versatility in biomedical purposes. Microparticles have also been used as drug delivery systems for similar reasons. The combination of microparticles and hydrogels in a composite system has been the topic of many research works. These composite systems can be injected in loco as DDS. The hydrogel will serve as a barrier to protect the particles and retard the release of any bioactive cargo within the particles. Additionally, these systems allow different release profiles, where different loads can be released sequentially, thus allowing a synergistic treatment. The reported advantages from several studies of these systems can be of great use in biomedicine for the development of more effective DDS.
  • 862
  • 04 Oct 2021
Topic Review
The Natural Cryoprotectant Honey for Fertility Cryopreservation
Honey is a mixture of 25 sugars with other bioactive substances (i.e., organic acids, enzymes, antioxidants, and vitamins) and has been known as a highly nutritious functional food. Traditionally, it has been widely used in medicinal applications to cure various diseases. The effectiveness of honey in different applications has been used for its antimicrobial activity, absorption of hydrops, cleansing, removing odor, assisting granulation, recovery of nutrition, and formation of tissue and epithelium, which proved that honey has dehydrating and preserving properties to make it ideal for the cryopreservation of cells and tissues.
  • 860
  • 07 Mar 2022
Topic Review
BAW-Based Separation
Bulk acoustic waves have been applied to microfluidic separations with many benefits, such as flexible placement of transducer, simple, and versatile setups. A BAW-based microfluidic device typically operates with bulk acoustic standing waves in a microchannel between two parallel opposite walls. BAW-based microfluidic separation techniques have been applied in separating various types of particles and biological samples based on their size, density and compressibility.
  • 858
  • 26 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Small-Diameter Vascular Graft Engineering
The increased demands of small-diameter vascular grafts (SDVGs) globally has forced the scientific society to explore alternative strategies utilizing the tissue engineering approaches. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) comprises one of the most lethal groups of non-communicable disorders worldwide. It has been estimated that in Europe, the healthcare cost for the administration of CVD is more than 169 billion €. Common manifestations involve the narrowing or occlusion of blood vessels. The replacement of damaged vessels with autologous grafts represents one of the applied therapeutic approaches in CVD. However, significant drawbacks are accompanying the above procedure; therefore, the exploration of alternative vessel sources must be performed. Engineered SDVGs can be produced through the utilization of non-degradable/degradable and naturally derived materials. Decellularized vessels represent also an alternative valuable source for the development of SDVGs. In this review, a great number of SDVG engineering approaches will be highlighted. Importantly, the state-of-the-art methodologies, which are currently employed, will be comprehensively presented. A discussion summarizing the key marks and the future perspectives of SDVG engineering will be included in this review. Taking into consideration the increased number of patients with CVD, SDVG engineering may assist significantly in cardiovascular reconstructive surgery and, therefore, the overall improvement of patients’ life.
  • 858
  • 22 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Photocatalysis of COVID-19 in Wastewater
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is currently posing a significant threat to the world’s public health and social-economic growth. Despite the rigorous international lockdown and quarantine efforts, the rate of COVID-19 infectious cases remains exceptionally high. Notwithstanding, the end route of COVID-19, together with emerging contaminants’ (antibiotics, pharmaceuticals, nanoplastics, pesticide, etc.) occurrence in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), poses a great challenge in wastewater settings.
  • 857
  • 09 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Hyperlipidemic Rabbit Models
Hyperlipidemia is a major risk factor for atherosclerotic diseases. Experimental animals play an important role in elucidating the molecular mechanisms of the pathophysiology of hyperlipidemia as well as in drug development. Rabbits are one of the most suitable models to study human hyperlipidemia because many features of the lipoprotein metabolism of rabbits are similar to those of humans. Currently, three types of rabbit models are commonly used for studying hyperlipidemia: (1) diet-induced hyperlipidemic rabbits, (2) spontaneous hyperlipidemic rabbits, and (3) gene-manipulated rabbits (transgenic and knockout rabbits).
  • 855
  • 07 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering for Illicit Drug Detection
The rapid increase in illicit drug use and its adverse health effects and socio-economic consequences have reached alarming proportions in recent years. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has emerged as a highly sensitive analytical tool for the detection of low dosages of drugs in liquid and solid samples.
  • 853
  • 25 May 2022
Topic Review
Wearable Sensors and Machine Learning for Hypovolemia Problems
Hypovolemia is a physiological state of reduced blood volume that can exist as either (1) absolute hypovolemia because of a lower circulating blood (plasma) volume for a given vascular space (dehydration, hemorrhage) or (2) relative hypovolemia resulting from an expanded vascular space (vasodilation) for a given circulating blood volume (e.g., heat stress, hypoxia, sepsis). The external environment and the user's level of physical activity can exacerbate hypovolemic challenges to the body. Noninvasive, wearable sensing systems are being developed to track a user's ability to compensate for these challenges. 
  • 853
  • 13 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Polymeric Biomaterials and Lubricants
With increasing environmental concerns and the depletion of petroleum resources, the development of lubricant additives from bioresources has attracted much attention recently. In this entry, a few polymers and polymer composites are reported, which are synthesized from vegetable oils (soybean oil, sunflower oil, rice bran oil, and castor oil) and used as multifunctional additives in the formulation of eco-friendly lubricant compositions. We mentioned the preparation of vegetable oil-based homo- and copolymers and their characterization by different spectral techniques (FTIR/NMR). 
  • 843
  • 20 May 2021
Topic Review
3D Bioprinting Techniques
Additive manufacturing, more often referred to as “3D printing,” is the method of fabricating three-dimensional objects by adding successive layers of materials at a regulated rate and thickness. These materials could be made of concrete, metals, ceramics, polymers, resins, biomaterials, or other substances. The dearth of variety in 3D-printable materials continues even though printing time, processing speed, and printing resolution have all increased. The compatibility and flowability of printing ink with the current printing procedures are crucial for developing fields such as the 3D printing of biomaterials, tissues, and high-viability cells.
  • 841
  • 12 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Digital Twins for Tissue Culture
Digital twins in the field of tissue culture include the mechanistic of the biological system in the form of diverse mathematical models, which describe the interaction between tissue culture techniques and cell growth, metabolism, and the quality of the tissue.
  • 838
  • 08 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Polymer-Based Embolic Agents
Minimally invasive endovascular embolization is a widely used clinical technique used for the occlusion of blood vessels to treat various diseases. Different occlusive agents ranging from gelatin foam to synthetic polymers such as poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) have been commercially used for embolization. However, these agents have some drawbacks, such as undesired toxicity and unintended and uncontrolled occlusion. To overcome these issues, several polymer-based embolic systems are investigated, including biocompatible and biodegradable microspheres, gelling liquid embolic with controlled occlusive features, and trackable microspheres with enhanced safety profiles.
  • 837
  • 24 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Wearable Chemosensors
The progress in wearable chemosensors is presented with attention drawn to the measuring technologies, their ability to provide robust data, the manufacturing techniques, as well their autonomy and ability to produce power. However, from statistical studies, the issue of patients’ trust in these technologies has arisen. People do not trust their personal data be transferred, stored, and processed through the vastness of the internet, which allows for timely diagnosis and treatment. The issue of power consumption and autonomy of chemosensor-integrated devices is also studied and the most recent solutions to this problem thoroughly presented.
  • 834
  • 10 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Polymer/Mg-Based Composites for Porous Tissue Scaffolds
Due to their commercial availability, superior processability, and biocompatibility, polymers are frequently used to build three-dimensional (3D) porous scaffolds. The main issues limiting the widespread clinical use of monophasic polymer scaffolds in the bone healing process are their inadequate mechanical strength and inappropriate biodegradation. Due to their mechanical strength and biocompatibility, metal-based scaffolds have been used for various bone regenerative applications.
  • 832
  • 27 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Functional Nanozyme
Nanozymes have the potential to replace natural enzymes, so they are widely used in energy conversion technologies such as biosensors and signal transduction (converting biological signals of a target into optical, electrical, or metabolic signals). The participation of nucleic acids leads nanozymes to produce richer interface effects and gives energy conversion events more attractive characteristics, creating what are called “functional nanozymes”. 
  • 831
  • 15 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Thermal properties and applications of nanofluids
The nanofluids (NFs) are known as a colloidal suspension where nanoparticles (NPs) are dispersed in conventional base fluids (BFs). This suspension has been frequently used to improve the heat transfer (HT) capacity of a fluid by studying their thermophysical properties. The NFs thermal properties and their applications are being used in different fields of engineering, ranging from machining to renewable energies. In machining, NFs play a prominent role in the processes of turning, milling, drilling, and grinding, being responsible for their optimization as well as improving the useful life of the tools and reducing costs. In the solar energy field, NFs have been used in the thermal management of the panels, controlling and homogenizing the operating temperature of these systems. In the biomedical area, the advantages of using NFs come from the treatment of cancer cells, the development of vaccines before the improvement of diagnostic imaging, and many others.
  • 830
  • 08 Feb 2022
Topic Review
COVID-19 Biomarkers and Point-of-Care Diagnosis
COVID-19, also known as SARS-CoV-2 is a novel, respiratory virus currently plaguing humanity. Genetically, at its core, it is a single-strand positive-sense RNA virus. It is a beta-type Coronavirus and is distinct in its structure and binding mechanism compared to other types of coronaviruses. Testing for the virus remains a challenge due to the small market available for at-home detection. Currently, there are three main types of tests for biomarker detection: viral, antigen and antibody. Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) remains the gold standard for viral testing. However, the lack of quantitative detection and turnaround time for results are drawbacks. This manuscript focuses on recent advances in COVID-19 detection that have lower limits of detection and faster response times than RT-PCR testing. The advancements in sensing platforms have amplified the detection levels and provided real-time results for SARS-CoV-2 spike protein detection with limits as low as 1 fg/mL in the Graphene Field Effect Transistor (FET) sensor. Additionally, using multiple biomarkers, detection levels can achieve a specificity and sensitivity level comparable to that of PCR testing. Proper biomarker selection coupled with nano sensing detection platforms are key in the widespread use of Point of Care (POC) diagnosis in COVID-19 detection.
  • 828
  • 06 Sep 2021
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