Pectin-based hydrogel carriers have been studied and shown to have promising applications for drug delivery to the lower GI tract, especially to the colonic region. However, making sure these hydrogel carriers can pass through the upper GI tract and reach the targeted regions, after oral administration, still remains a challenge to overcome. A solution to this problem is to promote stronger cross-linking interactions within the pectin-based hydrogel network. The combined usage of a divalent cation (Ca(2+)) and the cationic biopolymer oligochitosan has shown to improve the stability of pectin-based hydrogel systems - suggesting that these two cross-linkers may be used to eventually help improve pectin-based hydrogel systems for colonic drug delivery methods.
The systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) is a well-recognized phenomenon attending cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) surgery. SIRS leads to costly complications and several strategies intended to ameliorate the symptoms have been studied, including leukocyte reduction using filtration. Although the body of work suggests that leukoreduction attenuates SIRS, discrepancies remain within the literature. The recent literature is reviewed, highlighting the areas where concordance is lacking. Investigations into many promising device-related technologies are often deterred by the high costs of clinical trials. Adding to costs is the fact that clinical end points generally require large sample sizes. An understanding, however, of the pathogenesis of reperfusion injury can guide the investigator to choose physiologic response measures that correlate well with clinical outcome, but feature low inherent variability, allowing for clinical trials with smaller sample sizes. With this goal in mind, a model for the pathogenesis of reperfusion injury is described. Using a model of reperfusion injury as underpinnings for the design of prospective pilot studies, we show that salvaged blood reinfused following CPB elicits time-dependent effects on pulmonary function as predicted by the model. Data are illustrative of principles that could expand the scope of clinical investigations designed to validate the use of physiologic response measures as correlates of clinical outcome. Such investigations would target surrogate markers of clinical outcome, measured at clinically relevant times. Once validated, these surrogate markers would, thereafter, become economical screening tools for clinical studies of device-related or pharmacological anti- inflammatory interventions.
It was observed that the molecular weight of the cross-linker oligochiotsan had no significant improvement on microcapsule stability. On the other hand, the treatment of pectin-oligochitosan microcapsules with Ca2+ increased the microcapsule stability significantly. Different types of alginate were used; however, no red-blood-cell-shaped microcapsules could be produced, which is likely due to the charge-density difference between deprotonated pectin and alginate polymers.
This system showed a significant potential not only for bioactive-agent delivery, especially to the lower gastrointestinal (GI) tract, but also as a three-dimensional niche for cell culture. In particular, the hydrogel microcapsule system could be used to create artificial red-blood-cells as well as blood substitutes.
neering, where she teaches a variety of courses in biomedical digital signal processing, medical imaging, computing in biomedical engineering, biomaterials, anatomy and physiology. In addition to her academic responsibilities, she acts as a consultant to GE Healthcare for product development with emphasis on advanced imaging applications for neurology, cardiology, and oncology. Olga's technical areas of expertise include signal and imaging processing, and statistical analysis. In her previous and current product development roles, Olga gained extensive experience in clinical product management involving market analysis for new and existing imaging products, and clinical product marketing. She has experience in managing product evaluations at multiple clinical sites, and has a comprehensive knowledge of neurology, oncology, and cardiology imaging markets. She has established a number of strong collaborations with clinical experts in recognized neuroimaging and oncology centers. Olga has earned her undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering in 1999, and a doctorate degree in biomedical engineering and functional imaging from the Joint Functional Imaging program at Marquette University and Medical College of Wisconsin in 2004. Prior to entering academia full-time in 2009, Olga completed a three-year postdoctoral fellowship in anesthesiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin, where she studied the effects of general anesthetic agents on brain function. She then worked at GE Healthcare as a product development specialist in CT and Molecular Imaging with emphasis on post-processing software applications for neurology, oncology, and cardiology. Olga has over twenty peer-reviewed publications and three pending patents. Her professional interests include physiological mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease, anesthetic ablation of consciousness, and applicability of medical imaging in stroke and brain trauma. Dr. Jeffrey A. LaMack, Milwaukee School of Engineering Dr. LaMack teaches full-time in the Biomedical Engineering program in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at the MIlwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). His areas of specialty include biophysical transport phenomena, biocomputing, physiology, and engineering design. Dr. LaMack holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University, and he is an alumnus of the Biology Scholars Program of the American Society of Microbiology. Prior to becoming focused on engineering education, his research interests included hemodynamics and the study of how vascular cells respond to fluid forces and its implications in vascular pathologies.
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