Recent Advances in Magnetic Polymer Composites for BioMEMS: A Review

The objective of this review is to investigate the potential of functionalized magnetic polymer composites for use in electromagnetic micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) for biomedical applications. The properties that make magnetic polymer composites particularly interesting for application in the biomedical field are their biocompatibility...

A Fully Implantable Closed-loop System for Autonomous Opioid Detection and Treatment

With over 75,000 attributed deaths in 2020, opioid overdose is now the leading cause of death amongst Americans under the age of 50. With record-breaking increases in fatalities for the past 10 years, fentanyl in particular has many experts worried about the future of the opioid epidemic. To reverse opioid overdose there exists a drug called...

Magneto‐/ electro‐responsive polymers toward manufacturing, characterization, and biomedical/ soft robotic applications

Magneto-/ electro-responsive polymers (MERPs) are a class of stimuli-responsive materials that are actuated when triggered by external magnetic/ electric fields. MERPs exhibit rapid, reversible, and safe multi-functional and dynamic (i.e., changing with time) properties, which can effectively be manipulated at different length scales. These...

Injectable pH-responsive Ureido-Pyrimidinone (UPy) hydrogel as drug carrier for epicardial activation

The presence of a stem cell source in the epicardium that can be stimulated by exogenous delivery of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and migrate towards the myocardium can represent a new approach to achieve cardiac repair following myocardial infarction. However, injection of drugs always requires use of carriers which help stabilize the...

Controlled Delivery of (-)-Epigallocatechin 3-Gallate as a Therapeutic Strategy for the Degenerative Disc Disease

Degenerative disc disease (DDD) is the accelerated process of intervertebral disc decay (decrease of disc thickness, enhanced cell death, ECM damage and collagen loss etc.), accompanied with pain, as well as structural and functional failure. So far, there are no therapies that can inhibit or even reverse the degenerative progress of this...