If I Only Had a ...

3D printed bionic nanodevices

“…Due to the increasing miniaturization and proliferation of portable electronic devices, the field of bionics has transitioned from science fiction to an area of increasing scientific interest, with particular relevance to the fields of regenerative medicine, smart prosthetics, medical robotics and human-machine interfaces [1–4]. Most research in the field of bionics to date has focused on developing robots which behave increasingly more like humans.…”

“…Our ability to develop tools which overcome the limitations of human biology has played a key role in survival and evolution [9]. Utilizing devices for regenerative medicine and as prosthetics can be traced back millennia [1]. Indeed, a very primitive bionic device from the first century AD involved the use of wrought iron for dental replacements [10].…”

“…Indeed, a very primitive bionic device from the first century AD involved the use of wrought iron for dental replacements [10]. Subsequently, bionic devices such as iron prosthetic hands (1504), contact lenses (1888), and artificial hip replacements (1905) have been used to restore or augment human function [1]. Over the past several decades, the development of active microelectronic devices has enabled the incorporation of sensing modalities [11,12], optoelectronics [13,14], actuation [15] and computational devices [16] into previously passive mechanical constructs.…”

“…This has enabled an extension of the role of bionic devices toward mimicking or even augmenting the complex functionalities of biological organs. These powerful developments have been leveraged to fabricate active bionic devices such as the cochlear implant [17,18] to restore hearing (Figure 1A), pacemakers and heart replacements [1] to sustain blood flow (Figure 1B), locally powered prosthetic devices [19] to provide mobility to amputees (Figure 1C), retinal implants to provide partial restoration of vision loss due to diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa [20,21] (Figure 1D), dura mater for the spinal cord [22] (Figure 1E), and digital skin sensors and electronic skins [12,23–25] (Figure 1F). Indeed, the ability to merge a diverse palette of materials classes could enable the generation of functional devices that mimic the complex functionalities of grown biological organs [15].…”

In vitro haematic proteins adsorption and cytocompatibility study on acrylic copolymer to realise coatings for drug-eluting stents

“…e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / m s e c of mortality associated with vascular occlusion due to thrombus formation [10,11]. Protein adsorption is the first event occurring after the implantation of a device in human body [12].…”