Tissue engineering is a relatively new area of research that combines medical, biological, and engineering fundamentals to create tissue-engineered constructs that regenerate, preserve, or slightly increase the functions of tissues. To create mature tissue, the extracellular matrix should be imitated by engineered structures, allow for oxygen and nutrient transmission, and release toxins during tissue repair. Numerous recent studies have been devoted to developing three-dimensional nanostructures for tissue engineering. One of the most effective of these methods is electrospinning. Numerous nanofibrous scaffolds have been constructed over the last few decades for tissue repair and restoration. The current review gives an overview of attempts to construct nanofibrous meshes as tissue-engineered scaffolds for various tissues such as bone, cartilage, cardiovascular, and skin tissues. Also, the current article addresses the recent improvements and difficulties in tissue regeneration using electrospinning.

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Artificial finger joint design has been developed through different stages through the past. PIP (proximal interphalangeal) and MCP (metacarpophalangeal) artificial finger joints have come to replace the amputation and arthrodesis options; although, these artificial joints are still facing challenges related to reactive tissues, reduced range of motion, and flexion and extension deficits. Swanson silicone artificial finger joints are still common due to the physician’s preferability of silicone with the dorsal approach during operation. Nevertheless, other artificial finger joints such as the pyrocarbon implant arthroplasty have also drawn the interests of practitioners. Artificial finger joint has been classified under three major categories which are constrained, unconstrained, and linked design. There are also challenges such as concerns of infections and articular cartilage necrosis associated with attempted retention of vascularity. In addition, one of the main challenges facing the silicone artificial finger joints is the fracture occurring at the distal stem with the hinge. The aim of this paper is to review the different artificial finger joints in one paper as there are few old review papers about them. Further studies need to be done to develop the design and materials of the pyrocarbon and silicone implants to increase the range of motion associated with them and the fatigue life of the silicone implants.

Implantable devices have successfully proven their reliability and efficiency in the medical field due to their immense support in a variety of aspects concerning the monitoring of patients and treatment in many ways. Moreover, they assist the medical field in disease diagnosis and prevention. However, the devices’ power sources rely on batteries, and with this reliance, comes certain complications. For example, their depletion may lead to surgical interference or leakage into the human body. Implicit studies have found ways to reduce the battery size or in some cases to eliminate its use entirely; these studies suggest the use of biocompatible harvesters that can support the device consumption by generating power. Harvesting mechanisms can be executed using a variety of biocompatible materials, namely, piezoelectric and triboelectric nanogenerators, biofuel cells, and environmental sources. As with all methods for implementing biocompatible harvesters, some of them are low in terms of power consumption and some are dependent on the device and the place of implantation. In this review, we discuss the application of harvesters into implantable devices and evaluate the different materials and methods and examine how new and improved circuits will help in assisting the generators to sustain the function of medical devices.

This paper proposes an electronic prototype of the Grooved Pegboard Test (GPT), which is normally used to test the presence of hand dexterity. The prototype imitates the geometrical dimensions of an on-the-market GPT device, but it is electronic, not manual like the one available now for users. The suggested electronic GPT device makes automated time calculation between placing the first and the last peg in their designated locations, instead of manually observing a stopwatch normally used during the GPT. The electronic GPT prototype consists of a fabricated wooden box, electronics (switches and microcontroller), and liquid crystal display (LCD). A set of 40 normal volunteers, 20 females and 20 males, tested the designed prototype. A set of six volunteers with chronic medical conditions also participated in evaluating the proposed model. The results on normal volunteers showed that the proposed electronic GPT device yielded time calculations that match the population mean value of similar calculations by the GPT device. The one-sample t-test showed no significant difference in calculations between the new electronic GPT and the manual GPT device. The p-value was much higher than 0.05, indicating the possible use of the suggested electronic GPT device.