Nanoscale biomedical applications

These features of these materials spurred the scientific community to utilize them in biomedical applications [49]. In particular, the synergy between their multivalency and size on the nanoscale enables a chemical smartness along their molecular scaffold that achieves environmentally sensitive modalities. These functional materials are expected to revolutionize the existing therapeutic practice. Dendritic molecules, such as polyamidoamine, polylysine, polyester, polyglycerol (PG), and triazine dendrimers, have been introduced for biomedical applications to amplify or multiply molecularly pathopharmacological effects [73]. 

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CPs can be fabricated through a variety of routes which are classified as either predominantly electrochemical or chemical. While electrochemical synthesis has been more widely used for preparing nanoscale CP thin films for biomedical applications, chemical polymerization can produce large quantities of CP thick films or colloidal dispersions at low cost. Despite these advantages, chemical techniques have found relatively little application in biomedical applications. The advantages and disadvantages of electrodeposition and chemical synthesis are summarized in Table 18.2. 

Due to its ease of implementation, electrospinning has received a lot of attention as a technique to produce nanoflbres [83]. When the diameter of polymer fibre materials shrinks from the microscale to the submicro or nanoscale, several new characteristics appear, such as enhanced surface area-to-volume ratio and a superior mechanical performance [84]. Therefore, biopolymer nanofibrous mats show great potential to be used as particle filters, nanocomposite reinforcing fibres, protective clothing and in biomedical applications like wound dressings, sutures, tissue engineering scaffolds, implantable devices and drug delivery [83-85]. 

Cell membranes, consisting of lipid bilayers with embedded proteins, separate interior and exterior of cells and are selectively permeable to protect the intracellular environment. The Upid bilayer typically permits diffusion of small and non-polar molecules while preventing diffusion of polar and large molecules. Most of the nanoscale macromolecules are not able to freely diffuse across the cell membranes but can be engineered to internalize into cells through various mechanisms upon contact with the cell membrane. Critical to their use in biomedical applications, the interaction of nanoparticles with cell membranes is... 

Micro- and Nanoscale Anemometry Implication for Biomedical Applications... 

Micro- and Nanoscale Anemometry Implication for Biomedical Applications, Fig. 2 The operating principle of hot-wire anemometry. The electrical current is passed to the hot wire via the electrodes. The changes in resistance of the hot wire in response to the fluid flow are calibrated for temperature, flow rate, and shear stress... 

Mkro- and Nanoscale Anemometry Implication for Biomedical Applications, Fig. 5 The conventional hot-wire anemranetiy fabrication by soldering the hot wire to the electrodes... 

Finally, packaging micro- and nanoscale sensors is critical to translate the bench laboratory technology to biomedical applications. Parylene C is a commonly used biocompatible polymer for surface coating. Given its conformal property, this polymer has recently been explored as a structural and packaging material for flexible MEMS devices (Fig. 7). Parylene can be conformed on the non-flat surface of micro- and nanoscale devices, thereby opening an entry point to the complicated anatomic structures such as human arterial circulation. 

Micro- and Nanoscale Anemometry Implication for Biomedical Applications, Fig. 8 (a) An array of MEMS sensors embedded in a 3D bifurcation model, (b) Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solutions for skin friction coefficient (Cf) at a Reynolds number of 6.7. Cf represents local wall shear stress values normalized by the... 

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