The use of guided bone regeneration (GBR) techniques requires new materials meeting the needs of clinical application. Design criteria for GBR devices are biocompatibility, tissue occlusion, space provision, and clinical manageability. This study evaluates a novel biodegradable poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) based material as tissue occlusive membrane. A subcutaneous implant model in rats was developed to test the barrier function of the PEG hydrogels over time. Fourteen rats received three membrane implants and two positive controls each. Explants were collected over a period of 7 months. Histological analysis revealed that for at least 4 months cellular infiltration in the membrane explants was lower than 1% of that of the positive controls. Therefore, the PEG based hydrogel can be regarded as tissue occlusive during this period of time. A barrier function seems to be maintained for up to 6 months. In vitro degradation studies performed with the same PEG constructs confirm the in vivo result. In conclusion, our results indicate that this novel PEG‐based material has potential for use as a GBR barrier membrane. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2008

The novel fully automated Elecsys AMH assay shows good correlations with age and AFC in women of reproductive age, providing a reproducible measure of the growing follicle pool.

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Robots are slowly becoming part of our civilization, or at least one of the main evolutions of the third millennium. Nowadays their integration is based on their aspects by looking more and more human. Additionally, not only considering the psychological aspects, our society will have to improve their interaction. Systems integrating a full spectrum of sensors will have to be implemented. In this framework, as a preliminary step, the implementation of a tactile robotic skin can be an interesting upgrade. To guarantee safety between robots and humans, it can be interesting to implement such robots with human-like tactile perception. In this work, we focus on the realization of innovative tactile skin model. This model allows to sense and indicate where the pressures have been applied by using a combination of a flexible polymeric capacitive skin model combined with a LED matrix.

The monitoring of lymphatic drainage is of great importance, particularly in the context of the early detection and diagnosis of several diseases. Existing methods of imaging and monitoring lymphatic drainage can be costly and require trained personnel, posing problems for at-home or point-of-care monitoring. Recently, an alternative approach has been proposed, consisting of using microneedles to deliver a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent tattoo to the skin, which can be monitored with traditional laboratory-based fluorescence detectors. In this work, we present further development of this approach, using a specifically designed NIR-fluorescent probe and rational optimization of microneedle properties and the spatial location of the NIR dye within the microneedles. Moreover, we demonstrate that this method is compatible with a custom-made portable fluorescence measurement device and able to discriminate between drainage and lack of drainage in vivo in rats.