Development and Characterization of Calcium Based Biocomposites Using Waste Material (Calcite Stones) for Biomedical Applications

Calcium-based biocomposite materials have a pivotal role in the biomedical field with their diverse properties and applications in combating challenging medical problems. The study states the development and characterization of Calcium-based biocomposites: Hydroxyapatite (HAP), and PVA-Gelatin-HAP films. For the preparation of Calcium-based biocomposites, an unconventional source, the waste material calcite stone, was used as calcium raw material, and by the process of calcination, calcium oxide was synthesized. From calcium oxide, HAP was prepared by chemical precipitation method, which was later added in different proportions to PVA-Gelatin solution and finally dried to form biocomposite films. Then the different properties of PVA/Gelatin/HAP composite, for instance, chemical, mechanical, thermal, and swelling properties due to the incorporation of various proportions of HAP in PVA-Gelatin solution, were investigated. The characterization of the HAP was conducted by X-ray Diffraction Analysis, and the characterization of HAP-PVA-Gelatin composites was done by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Thermomechanical Analysis, Tensile test, Thermogravimetric Differential Thermal Analysis, and Swelling Test. The produced biocomposite films might have applications in orthopedic implants, drug delivery, bone tissue engineering, and wound healing.

Medical colleges summary of biomedical engineering profession<br>—Luzhou Medical College in the perspective of biomedical engineering profession<br>

This paper expounds professional characteristics of biomedical engineering in our school, and analyses some problems lying in it, emphatically discusses advantages and the problems combining biomedical engineering with the medical courses in order to offer targeted solutions. It summarizes the results and problems so as to provide reference value to a new major.

Translational bioengineering strategies for peripheral nerve regeneration:opportunities,challenges,and novel concepts

Peripheral nerve injuries remain a challenging problem in need of better treatment strategies.Despite best efforts at surgical reconstruction and postoperative rehabilitation,patients are often left with persistent,debilitating motor and sensory deficits.There are currently no therapeutic strategies proven to enhance the regenerative process in humans.A clinical need exists for the development of technologies to promote nerve regeneration and improve functional outcomes.Recent advances in the fields of tissue engineering and nanotechnology have enabled biomaterial scaffolds to modulate the host response to tissue repair through tailored mechanical,chemical,and conductive cues.New bioengineered approaches have enabled targeted,sustained delivery of protein therapeutics with the capacity to unlock the clinical potential of a myriad of neurotrophic growth factors that have demonstrated promise in enhancing regenerative outcomes.As such,further exploration of combinatory strategies leveraging these technological advances may offer a pathway towards clinically translatable solutions to advance the care of patients with peripheral nerve injuries.This review first presents the various emerging bioengineering strategies that can be applied for the management of nerve gap injuries.We cover the rationale and limitations for their use as an alternative to autografts,focusing on the approaches to increase the number of regenerating axons crossing the repair site,and facilitating their growth towards the distal stump.We also discuss the emerging growth factor-based therapeutic strategies designed to improve functional outcomes in a multimodal fashion,by accelerating axonal growth,improving the distal regenerative environment,and preventing end-organs atrophy.

BME 2.0: Engineering the Future of Medicine

If the 20th century was the age of mapping and controlling the external world,the 21st century is the biomedical age of mapping and controlling the biological internal world.The biomedical age is bringing new technological breakthroughs for sensing and controlling human biomolecules,cells,tissues,and organs,which underpin new frontiers in the biomedical discovery,data,biomanufacturing,and translational sciences.This article reviews what we believe will be the next wave of biomedical engineering(BME)education in support of the biomedical age,what we have termed BME 2.0.BME 2.0 was announced on October 122017 at BMES 49(https://www.bme.jhu.edu/news-events/news/miller-opens-2017-bmes-annual-meeting-with-vision-for-new-bme-era/).We present several principles upon which we believe the BME 2.0 curriculum should be constructed,and from these principles,we describe what view as the foundations that form the next generations of curricula in support of the BME enterprise.The core principles of BME 2.0 education are(a)educate students bilingually,from day 1,in the languages of modern molecular biology and the analytical modeling of complex biological systems;(b)prepare every student to be a biomedical data scientist;(c)build a unique BME community for discovery and innovation via a vertically integrated and convergent learning environment spanning the university and hospital systems;(d)champion an educational culture of inclusive excellence;and(e)codify in the curriculum ongoing discoveries at the frontiers of the discipline,thus ensuring BME 2.0 as a launchpad for training the future leaders of the biotechnology marketplaces.We envision that the BME 2.0 education is the path for providing every student with the training to lead in this new era of engineering the future of medicine in the 21st century.

Erratum to “BME 2.0: Engineering the Future of Medicine”

In the article“BME 2.0:Engineering the Future of Medicine”[1],the competing interests statement was inadvertently omitted by the publisher from the published version of the article.This has now been corrected in the PDF and HTML(full text).

The fabrication of hydroxyapatite mineralized hydrogels for bone tissue engineering

Bone is a complex but orderly mineralized tissue with hydroxyapatite(HA)as the inorganic phase and collagen as the organic phase.Inspired by natural bone tissues,HA-mineralized hydrogels have been widely designed and used in bone tissue engineering.HA is majorly utilized for the treatment of bone defects because of its excellent osteoconduction and bone inductivity.Hydrogel is a three-dimensional hydrophilic network structure with similar properties to the extracellular matrix(ECM).The combination of HA and hydrogels produces a new hybrid material that could effectively promote osteointegration and accelerate the healing of bone defects.In this review,the structure and growth of bone and the common strategies used to prepare HA were briefly introduced.Importantly,we discussed the fabrication of HA mineralized hydrogels from simple blending to in situ mineralization.We hope this review can provide a reference for the development of bone repair hydrogels.

Cat and Mouse Optimizer with Artificial Intelligence Enabled Biomedical Data Classification

Biomedical data classification has become a hot research topic in recent years,thanks to the latest technological advancements made in healthcare.Biome-dical data is usually examined by physicians for decision making process in patient treatment.Since manual diagnosis is a tedious and time consuming task,numerous automated models,using Artificial Intelligence(AI)techniques,have been presented so far.With this motivation,the current research work presents a novel Biomedical Data Classification using Cat and Mouse Based Optimizer with AI(BDC-CMBOAI)technique.The aim of the proposed BDC-CMBOAI technique is to determine the occurrence of diseases using biomedical data.Besides,the proposed BDC-CMBOAI technique involves the design of Cat and Mouse Optimizer-based Feature Selection(CMBO-FS)technique to derive a useful subset of features.In addition,Ridge Regression(RR)model is also utilized as a classifier to identify the existence of disease.The novelty of the current work is its designing of CMBO-FS model for data classification.Moreover,CMBO-FS technique is used to get rid of unwanted features and boosts the classification accuracy.The results of the experimental analysis accomplished by BDC-CMBOAI technique on benchmark medical dataset established the supremacy of the proposed technique under different evaluation measures.

Improved Bat Algorithm with Deep Learning-Based Biomedical ECG Signal Classification Model

With new developments experienced in Internet of Things(IoT),wearable,and sensing technology,the value of healthcare services has enhanced.This evolution has brought significant changes from conventional medicine-based healthcare to real-time observation-based healthcare.Biomedical Electrocardiogram(ECG)signals are generally utilized in examination and diagnosis of Cardiovascular Diseases(CVDs)since it is quick and non-invasive in nature.Due to increasing number of patients in recent years,the classifier efficiency gets reduced due to high variances observed in ECG signal patterns obtained from patients.In such scenario computer-assisted automated diagnostic tools are important for classification of ECG signals.The current study devises an Improved Bat Algorithm with Deep Learning Based Biomedical ECGSignal Classification(IBADL-BECGC)approach.To accomplish this,the proposed IBADL-BECGC model initially pre-processes the input signals.Besides,IBADL-BECGC model applies NasNet model to derive the features from test ECG signals.In addition,Improved Bat Algorithm(IBA)is employed to optimally fine-tune the hyperparameters related to NasNet approach.Finally,Extreme Learning Machine(ELM)classification algorithm is executed to perform ECG classification method.The presented IBADL-BECGC model was experimentally validated utilizing benchmark dataset.The comparison study outcomes established the improved performance of IBADL-BECGC model over other existing methodologies since the former achieved a maximum accuracy of 97.49%.

Are EPB41 and alpha-synuclein diagnostic biomarkers of sport-related concussion?Findings from the NCAA and Department of Defense CARE Consortium

Background:Current protein biomarkers are only moderately predictive at identifying individuals with mild traumatic brain injury or concussion.Therefore,more accurate diagnostic markers are needed for sport-related concussion.Methods:This was a multicenter,prospective,case-control study of athletes who provided blood samples and were diagnosed with a concussion or were a matched non-concussed control within the National Collegiate Athletic Association-Department of Defense Concussion Assessment,Research,and Education Consortium conducted between 2015 and 2019.The blood was collected within 48 h of injury to identify protein abnormalities at the acute and subacute timepoints.Athletes with concussion were divided into 6 h post-injury(0-6 h post-injury)and after 6 h postinjury(7-48 h post-injury)groups.We applied a highly multiplexed proteomic technique that used a DNA aptamers assay to target 1305proteins in plasma samples from athletes with and without sport-related concussion.Results:A total of 140 athletes with concussion(79.3%males;aged 18.71±1.10 years,mean±SD)and 21 non-concussed athletes(76.2%males;19.14±1.10 years)were included in this study.We identified 338 plasma proteins that significantly differed in abundance(319 upregulated and 19 downregulated)in concussed athletes compared to non-concussed athletes.The top 20 most differentially abundant proteins discriminated concussed athletes from non-concussed athletes with an area under the curve(AUC)of 0.954(95%confidence interval:0.922-0.986).Specifically,after 6 h of injury,the individual AUC of plasma erythrocyte membrane protein band 4.1(EPB41)and alpha-synuclein(SNCA)were 0.956 and 0.875,respectively.The combination of EPB41 and SNCA provided the best AUC(1.000),which suggests this combination of candidate plasma biomarkers is the best for diagnosing concussion in athletes after 6 h of injury.Conclusion:Our data suggest that proteomic profiling may provide novel diagnostic protein markers and that a combination of EPB41 and SNCA is the most predictive biomarker of concussion after 6 h of injury.

Spatial sensitivity to absorption changes for various near-infrared spectroscopy methods:A compendium review

This compendium review focuses on the spatial distribution of sensitivity to localized absorption changes in optically diffuse media,particularly for measurements relevant to near-infrared spectroscopy.The three temporal domains,continuous wave,frequency domain,and time domain,each obtain different optical data types whose changes may be related to effective homogeneous changes in the absorption coefficient.Sensitivity is the relationship between a localized perturbation and the recovered effective homogeneous absorption change.Therefore,spatial sensitivity maps representing the perturbation location can be generated for the numerous optical data types in the three temporal domains.The review first presents a history of the past 30 years of work investigating this sensitivity in optically diffuse media.These works are experimental and theoretical,presenting one-,two-,and three-dimensional sensitivity maps for different Near-Infrared Spectroscopy methods,domains,and data types.Following this history,we present a compendium of sensitivity maps organized by temporal domain and then data type.This compendium provides a valuable tool to compare the spatial sensitivity of various measurement methods and parameters in one document.Methods for one to generate these maps are provided in Appendix A,including the code.This historical review and comprehensive sensitivity map compendium provides a single source researchers may use to visualize,investigate,compare,and generate sensitivity to localized absorption change maps.

Wettability Gradient-Induced Diode:MXene-Engineered Membrane for Passive-Evaporative Cooling

Thermoregulatory textiles,leveraging high-emissivity structural materials,have arisen as a promising candidate for personal cooling management;however,their advancement has been hindered by the underperformed water moisture transportation capacity,which impacts on their thermophysiological comfort.Herein,we designed a wettability-gradient-induced-diode(WGID)membrane achieving by MXene-engineered electrospun technology,which could facilitate heat dissipation and moisture-wicking transportation.As a result,the obtained WGID membrane could obtain a cooling temperature of 1.5℃ in the“dry”state,and 7.1℃ in the“wet”state,which was ascribed to its high emissivity of 96.40%in the MIR range,superior thermal conductivity of 0.3349 W m^(-1) K^(-1)(based on radiation-and conduction-controlled mechanisms),and unidirectional moisture transportation property.The proposed design offers an approach for meticulously engineering electrospun membranes with enhanced heat dissipation and moisture transportation,thereby paving the way for developing more efficient and comfortable thermoregulatory textiles in a high-humidity microenvironment.

In vivo measurement of NADH fluorescence lifetime in skeletal muscle via -ber-coupled time-correlated single photon counting

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide(NADH)is a cofactor that serves to shuttle electrons during metabolic processes such as glycolysis,the tricarboxylic acid cycle,and oxidative phosphorylation(OXPHOS).NADH is autofluorescent,and itsfluorescence lifetime can be used to infer metabolic dynamics in living cells.Fiber-coupled time-correlated single photon counting(TCSPC)equipped with an implantable needle probe can be used to measure NADH lifetime in vivo,enabling investigation of changing metabolic demand during muscle contraction or tissue regeneration.This study illustrates a proof of concept for point-based,minimally-invasive NADHfluorescence lifetime measurement in vivo.Volumetric muscle loss(VML)injuries were created in the left tibialis anterior(TA)muscle of male Sprague Dawley rats.NADH lifetime measurements were collected before,during,and after a 30 s tetanic contraction in the injured and uninjured TA muscles,which was subsequently-t to a biexponential decay model to yield a metric of NADH utilization(cytoplasmic vs protein-bound NADH,the A11/A22 ratio).On average,this ratio was higher during and after contraction in uninjured muscle compared to muscle at rest,suggesting higher levels of free NADH in contracting and recovering muscle,indicating increased rates of glycolysis.In injured muscle,this ratio was higher than uninjured muscle overall but decreased over time,which is consistent with current knowledge of inflammatory response to injury,suggesting tissue regeneration has occurred.These data suggest that-ber-coupled TCSPC has the potential to measure changes in NADH binding in vivo in a minimally invasive manner that requires further investigation.

Advances in extracellular vesicle-based combination therapies for spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury is a severe insult to the central nervous system that causes persisting neurological deficits.The currently available treatments involve surgical,medical,and rehabilitative strategies.However,none of these techniques can markedly reverse neurological deficits.Recently,extracellular vesicles from various cell sources have been applied to different models of spinal cord injury,thereby generating new cell-free therapies for the treatment of spinal cord injury.However,the use of extracellular vesicles alone is still associated with some notable shortcomings,such as their uncertainty in targeting damaged spinal cord tissues and inability to provide structural support to damaged axons.Therefore,this paper reviews the latest combined strategies for the use of extracellular vesicle-based technology for spinal cord injury,including the combination of extracellular vesicles with nanoparticles,exogenous drugs and/or biological scaffold materials,which facilitate the targeting ability of extracellular vesicles and the combinatorial effects with extracellular vesicles.We also highlight issues relating to the clinical transformation of these extracellular vesicle-based combination strategies for the treatment of spinal cord injury.

Local dose-dense chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer via minimally invasive implantation of 3D printed devices

Dose-dense chemotherapy is the preferred first-line therapy for triple-negative breast cancer(TNBC),a highly aggressive disease with a poor prognosis.This treatment uses the same drug doses as conventional chemotherapy but with shorter dosing intervals,allowing for promising clinical outcomes with intensive treatment.However,the frequent systemic administration used for this treatment results in systemic toxicity and low patient compliance,limiting therapeutic efficacy and clinical benefit.Here,we report local dose-dense chemotherapy to treat TNBC by implanting 3D printed devices with timeprogrammed pulsatile release profiles.The implantable device can control the time between drug releases based on its internal microstructure design,which can be used to control dose density.The device is made of biodegradable materials for clinical convenience and designed for minimally invasive implantation via a trocar.Dose density variation of local chemotherapy using programmable release enhances anti-cancer effects in vitro and in vivo.Under the same dose density conditions,device-based chemotherapy shows a higher anticancer effect and less toxic response than intratumoral injection.We demonstrate local chemotherapy utilizing the implantable device that simulates the drug dose,number of releases,and treatment duration of the dose-dense AC(doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide)regimen preferred for TNBC treatment.Dose density modulation inhibits tumor growth,metastasis,and the expression of drug resistance-related proteins,including p-glycoprotein and breast cancer resistance protein.To the best of our knowledge,local dose-dense chemotherapy has not been reported,and our strategy can be expected to be utilized as a novel alternative to conventional therapies and improve anti-cancer efficiency.

Video-Based Deception Detection with Non-Contact Heart Rate Monitoring and Multi-Modal Feature Selection

Deception detection plays a crucial role in criminal investigation.Videos contain a wealth of information regarding apparent and physiological changes in individuals,and thus can serve as an effective means of deception detection.In this paper,we investigate video-based deception detection considering both apparent visual features such as eye gaze,head pose and facial action unit(AU),and non-contact heart rate detected by remote photoplethysmography(rPPG)technique.Multiple wrapper-based feature selection methods combined with the K-nearest neighbor(KNN)and support vector machine(SVM)classifiers are employed to screen the most effective features for deception detection.We evaluate the performance of the proposed method on both a self-collected physiological-assisted visual deception detection(PV3D)dataset and a public bag-oflies(BOL)dataset.Experimental results demonstrate that the SVM classifier with symbiotic organisms search(SOS)feature selection yields the best overall performance,with an area under the curve(AUC)of 83.27%and accuracy(ACC)of 83.33%for PV3D,and an AUC of 71.18%and ACC of 70.33%for BOL.This demonstrates the stability and effectiveness of the proposed method in video-based deception detection tasks.

Activation of endogenous neurogenesis and angiogenesis by basic fibroblast growth factor-chitosan gel in an adult rat model of ischemic stroke

Attempts have been made to use cell transplantation and biomaterials to promote cell proliferation,differentiation,migration,and survival,as well as angiogenesis,in the context of brain injury.However,whether bioactive materials can repair the damage caused by ischemic stroke by activating endogenous neurogenesis and angiogenesis is still unknown.In this study,we applied chitosan gel loaded with basic fibroblast growth factor to the stroke cavity 7 days after ischemic stroke in rats.The gel slowly released basic fibroblast growth factor,which improved the local microenvironment,activated endogenous neural stem/progenitor cells,and recruited these cells to migrate toward the penumbra and stroke cavity and subsequently differentiate into neurons,while enhancing angiogenesis in the penumbra and stroke cavity and ultimately leading to partial functional recovery.This study revealed the mechanism by which bioactive materials repair ischemic strokes,thus providing a new strategy for the clinical application of bioactive materials in the treatment of ischemic stroke.

Experimental realization of fractal fretwork metasurface for sound anomalous modulation

Natural creatures and ancient cultures are full of potential sources to provide inspiration for applied sciences.Inspired by the fractal geometry in nature and the fretwork frame in ancient culture,here we design the acoustic metasurface to realize sound anomalous modulation,which manifests itself as an incident-dependent propagation behavior:sound wave propagating in the forward direction is allowed to transmit with high efficiency while in the backward direction is obviously suppressed.We quantitatively investigate the dependences of asymmetric transmission on the propagation direction,incident angle and operating frequency by calculating sound transmittance and energy contrast.This compact fractal fretwork metasurface for acoustic anomalous modulation would promote the development of integrated acoustic devices and expand versatile applications in acoustic communication and information encryption.

Brain regulates weight bearing bone through PGE2 skeletal interoception: implication of ankle osteoarthritis and pain

Bone is a mechanosensitive tissue and undergoes constant remodeling to adapt to the mechanical loading environment.However,it is unclear whether the signals of bone cells in response to mechanical stress are processed and interpreted in the brain.In this study,we found that the hypothalamus of the brain regulates bone remodeling and structure by perceiving bone prostaglandin E2(PGE2)concentration in response to mechanical loading.Bone PGE2 levels are in proportion to their weight bearing.When weight bearing changes in the tail-suspension mice,the PGE2 concentrations in bones change in line with their weight bearing changes.Deletion of cyclooxygenase-2(COX2)in the osteoblast lineage cells or knockout of receptor 4(EP4)in sensory nerve blunts bone formation in response to mechanical loading.Moreover,knockout of TrkA in sensory nerve also significantly reduces mechanical load-induced bone formation.Moreover,mechanical loading induces cAMP-response element binding protein(CREB)phosphorylation in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus(ARC)to inhibit sympathetic tyrosine hydroxylase(TH)expression in the paraventricular nucleus(PVN)for osteogenesis.Finally,we show that elevated PGE2 is associated with ankle osteoarthritis(AOA)and pain.Together,our data demonstrate that in response to mechanical loading,skeletal interoception occurs in the form of hypothalamic processing of PGE2-driven peripheral signaling to maintain physiologic bone homeostasis,while chronically elevated PGE2 can be sensed as pain during AOA and implication of potential treatment.

Microstrip Patch Antenna with an Inverted T-Type Notch in the Partial Ground for Breast Cancer Detections

This study designs a microstrip patch antenna with an inverted T-type notch in the partial ground to detect tumorcells inside the human breast.The size of the current antenna is small enough(18mm×21mm×1.6mm)todistribute around the breast phantom.The operating frequency has been observed from6–14GHzwith a minimumreturn loss of−61.18 dB and themaximumgain of current proposed antenna is 5.8 dBiwhich is flexiblewith respectto the size of antenna.After the distribution of eight antennas around the breast phantom,the return loss curveswere observed in the presence and absence of tumor cells inside the breast phantom,and these observations showa sharp difference between the presence and absence of tumor cells.The simulated results show that this proposedantenna is suitable for early detection of cancerous cells inside the breast.

Perspectives for delivery of therapeutics by extravasation of biodegradable microspheres in the brain

Development of therapeutics for brain diseases has remained challenging,in particular due to the difficulty of passing the blood-brain barrier.As a result,the current arsenal of therapeutics targeting the brain is limited to small,lipid-soluble drugs and there is a lack of options for treating neuroblastomas,Alzheimer’s disease,and many other devastating pathologies.Despite the advances in strategies for crossing the blood-brain barrier such as the use of nanoparticles(Hersh et al.,2022;Duan et al.,2023),such delivery systems have not yet reached clinical practice.Therefore,novel platforms for the transport of therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier remain highly desired.This specifically holds for large molecules such as monoclonal antibodies and recombinant proteins,as well as nucleotide-based therapeutics and cell therapies.Research efforts in this field are increasing exponentially,with thousands of publications in the last few years.