Tissue Homing Devices

Scaffolds, Transplantation Modules, Tissue Homing Devices and Stem Cells... 

Green, D.W., Ben-Nissan, B., 2010. Biomimetic applications in regenerative medicine scaffolds, transplantation modules, tissue homing device and stem cells. Chapter 21. In Tochilin, V., Amiji, M. (Eds.), Handbook of Materials for Nanomedicine. Pan Stanford Publishing Pte Ltd, Singapore, pp. 821-850. ISBN 978-981-4267-55-7. 

The behavior of liposomes in vivo can be influenced to a considerable extent by varying chemical composition and physical properties. Parameters affecting rate of clearance from the blood and tissue distribution include size, composition, dose, and surface characteristics (e.g., charge, hydrophobicity, presence of homing devices such as antibodies). 

The use of phage-display techniques has identified peptide ligands with specific affinity to cell surface receptors or specific tissues (see Table 11.2). Such peptide homing devices can be... 

A homing device To specifically target the drug to the target cells or target tissue... 

Excipients can ensure that such delivery is expeditious and consistent. Their presence may be even more crucial with more esoteric forms that must be delivered to a tissue, organ, or even specific cells. Researchers are developing excipients that act as homing devices to guide drugs to designated targets. Such approaches will be discussed later in this chapter. 

Ideally, some form of homing device, that is, a functionality showing affinity to the target tissue, providing a degree of drug accumulation in the tumor... 

Medical devices can be anything from thermometers to artificial hearts to in-home pregnancy test kits. Devices, unlike drugs, are not dependent on a chemical action. Device inventors are more concerned with anatomy—skin, internal organs, tissue—and the compatibility of the device both within and on the surface of the body. 

Furthermore, patients with spinal cord injuries have a high incidence of pressure ulcers and is a population that reaches beyond nursing homes and hospitals. It has been reported that 40% of this group develops pressure ulcers during initial hospitalization and rehabilitation. In fact, all populations dependent on assistive devices where soft tissue is compressed between a bony prominence and the assistive device are at increased risk for pres-sure ulcer formation. Again as discussed below, elastic protein-based materials are being tested in an appropriate animal model, and preliminary results are promising. 

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