Ingestible electronic
systems that are capable of embedded sensing,
particularly within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and its accessory
organs, have the potential to screen for diseases that are difficult
if not impossible to detect at an early stage using other means. Furthermore,
these devices have the potential to (1) reduce labor and facility
costs for a variety of procedures, (2) promote research for discovering
new biomarker targets for associated pathologies, (3) promote the
development of autonomous or semiautonomous diagnostic aids for consumers,
and (4) provide a foundation for epithelially targeted therapeutic
interventions. These technological advances have the potential to
make disease surveillance and treatment far more effective for a variety
of conditions, allowing patients to lead longer and more productive
lives. This review will examine the conventional techniques, as well
as ingestible sensors and sensing systems that are currently under
development for use in disease screening and diagnosis for GI disorders.
Design considerations, fabrication, and applications will be discussed.
Viruses are unique biological agents that infect living host cells through molecular delivery of a genomic cargo. Over the past two decades advancements in genetic engineering and bioconjugation technologies have allowed the unprecedented use of these “unfriendly” biological molecules, as nanoscopic platforms for the advancement of an array of nanotechnology applications. This mini‐review focuses on providing a brief summary of key demonstrations leveraging the versatile characteristics of Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) for molecular assembly and bio‐device integration. A comprehensive discussion of genetic and chemical modification strategies along with potential limiting factors that impact the assembly of these macromolecules is presented to provide useful insights for adapting TMV as a potentially universal platform toward developing advanced nanomaterials. Additional discussions on biofabrication techniques developed in parallel to enable immobilization, alignment, and patterning of TMV‐based functional particles on solid surfaces will highlight technological innovations that can be widely adapted for creating nanoscopic device components using these engineered biomacromolecules. Further exploitation in the design of molecular specificity and assembly mechanisms and the development of highly controllable and scalable TMV‐device integration strategies will expand the library of nanoscale engineering tools that can be used for the further development of virus‐based nanotechnology platforms.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.