Subject:
All Disciplines Arts & Humanities Biology & Life Sciences Business & Economics Chemistry & Materials Science Computer Science & Mathematics Engineering Environmental & Earth Sciences Medicine & Pharmacology Physical Sciences Public Health & Healthcare Social Sciences
Sort:
Hottest Latest Alphabetical (A-Z) Alphabetical (Z-A)
Type:
All Topic Review Biography
Topic Review
Natural and Synthetic Biopolymer Scaffolds
In biomedical applications, scaffolds can be used ranging from regenerative engineering to controlled drug delivery and immunomodulation, and for this purpose, biomaterials have become an indispensable instrument as scaffold material. The materials used for scaffold manufacturing must satisfy some criteria such as intrinsic biofunctionality and appropriate chemistry to stimulate molecular biorecognition by cells to induce proliferation, cell adhesion, and activation. Many biodegradable polymers of natural and synthetic origin have been established for use as biomaterials and careful consideration of the cellular environment and interactions needed is required to select a polymer for a given application.
  • 3.1K
  • 13 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Crosslinking Agent for on Cellulose-Based Hydrogels
Hydrogels are interlinked hydrophilic polymers that are insoluble in water but are capable of absorbing large amounts of water through the swelling process. During the swelling process, the polar groups in the polymer chain swiftly draw the first water molecules into the hydrogel network (bound water). The hydrogel network absorbs more water molecules due to the osmotic pressure of the interstitial water and free water. Both synthetic and natural polymers can be used to create hydrogels. Natural polymer-based hydrogels are typically chosen because of their excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability. In addition, natural polymers are less expensive than synthetic ones.  A crosslinking agent is used to strengthen the properties of the hydrogel. A chemical crosslinking agent is used more often than a physical crosslinking agent. In a chemical crosslinking agent, there are two types of crosslinking agents, which is synthetic and natural crosslinking agents. Hydrogels that utilize synthetic crosslinking agents have advantages, such as adjustable mechanical properties and easy control of the chemical composition. However, hydrogels that use natural crosslinking agents have better biocompatibility and less latent toxic effect.
  • 3.1K
  • 28 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Stimuli-responsive materials
Smart or stimuli-responsive materials are an emerging class of materials used for tissue engineering and drug delivery. A variety of stimuli (including temperature, pH, redox-state, light, and magnet fields) are being investigated for their potential to change a material’s properties, interactions, structure, and/or dimensions. The specificity of stimuli response, and ability to respond to endogenous cues inherently present in living systems provide possibilities to develop novel tissue engineering and drug delivery strategies (for example materials composed of stimuli responsive polymers that self-assemble or undergo phase transitions or morphology transformations). Herein, smart materials as controlled drug release vehicles for tissue engineering are described, highlighting their potential for the delivery of precise quantities of drugs at specific locations and times promoting the controlled repair or remodeling of tissues.
  • 3.0K
  • 24 Jul 2020
Topic Review
Antibacterial Designs for Implantable Medical Devices
The uses of implantable medical devices are safer and more common since sterilization methods and techniques were established a century ago; however, device-associated infections (DAIs) are still frequent and becoming a leading complication as the number of medical device implantations keeps increasing.
  • 3.0K
  • 01 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Dental Poly(methyl methacrylate)-Based Resin
Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-based resins have been conventionally used in dental prostheses owing to their good biocompatibility. However, PMMA-based resins have relatively poor mechanical properties. The filler was incorporated in the photocurable PMMA-based resin to improve the mechanical and physicochemical properties. The filler-loaded PMMA-based resin has the potential for use in dental restorative materials.
  • 2.8K
  • 25 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Equine Collagen
Equine collagen is referred to type I collagen extracted from horse tissues that, in the last two decades, aroused great scientific and industrial interest in the field of life-science and bioengineering as alternative to bovine collagen for the manufacture of implantable medical devices. Commonly used sources of collagen are represented by bovine and swine, but their limited applications because of the zoonosis transmission risks, the immune response and the religious constrains lead to the identification of other collagen sources. In this circumstance, type I collagen isolated from horse tendon recently gained interest as an attractive alternative, so that, although bovine- and porcine-derived collagens still remain the most common ones, more and more companies started to bring to market several of equine tendon collagen-based products. Its favorable structural properties, its well-known bioactivity, its freedom from zoonosis transmission risks and the ability to not trigger immune reactions make equine collagen particularly appealing in medicine, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.
  • 2.8K
  • 17 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-Based Hydrogels
Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) is a widely utilized negative thermosensitive polymer (as it has increased solubility with lowering of temperature, causing volume phase transition by forming hydrogen bonds) that has currently sparkled a lot of scientific inquisitiveness. Smart hydrogels based on PNIPAM demonstrate distinct thermoresponsive features close to a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) that enhance their capability in various biomedical applications such as drug delivery, tissue engineering, and wound dressings.
  • 2.8K
  • 29 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Applications of Nanostructured Materials
In the last few decades, the vast potential of nanomaterials for biomedical and healthcare applications has been extensively investigated. Several case studies demonstrated that nanomaterials can offer solutions to the current challenges of raw materials in the biomedical and healthcare fields. The different nanoparticles and nanostructured material synthesis approaches were described.
  • 2.7K
  • 11 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Bioactive Glass
Bioactive glass (BAG) consist of known biocompatible and bioactive minerals, including fluorapatite (FAP), wollastonite, diopside, and tricalcium phosphate. A bioactive material can interact with the biological environment to elicit a specific biological response and they can be osteoconductive or osteoinductive. Bioactive Glasses are amorphous solids with the irregular organization of atoms, optically transparent, and brittle consisting of silica networks. They possesses bioactivity and antimicrobial properties as presented n following sections. The bioactivity of BAGs involves several steps; BAGs immediately undergo ionic dissolution and glass degradation via the exchange of H+ ions in the solution and Na+ and Ca2+ from the glass network. BAG exhibits antimicrobial properties against various pathogens, e.g pathogens associated with sinusitis and osteomyelitis.
  • 2.7K
  • 22 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Natural Polymers Used in Edible Food Packaging
Natural polymers like polysaccharides and proteins, i.e., alginate; carrageenan; chitosan; starch; pea protein, are important materials obtained from renewable plant, algae and animal sources, as well as from agroindustrial residues. Historically, some of them have been widely used by ancient populations for food packaging until these were replaced by petroleum-based plastic materials after World War II. Nowadays, biobased materials for food packaging have attracted attention. Their use was boosted especially because of the environmental pollution caused by inappropriate disposal of plastic packaging. Biobased materials are welcome to the design of food packaging because they possess many advantages, such as biodegradability, biocompatibility and low toxicity. Depending on the formulation, certain biopolymer-based packaging may present good barrier properties, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities Thus, polysaccharides and proteins can be combined to form diverse composite films with improved mechanical and biological behaviors, making them suitable for packaging of different food products. 
  • 2.6K
  • 10 Jan 2022
  • Page
  • of
  • 64
Featured Entry Collections
>>

Featured Books

>>
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences
Encyclopedia of COVID-19
Encyclopedia of Fungi
Encyclopedia of Digital Society, Industry 5.0 and Smart City
Feedback