Archive for the ‘Biomaterials’ Category
At the forefront of biomaterial research
. The work by Joe Landolina and Suneris Inc., highlighted by Stacey Johnson in her recent post, helps bring to the forefront the industry’s motivation to utilize “smart biomaterials”. The Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine has been researching smart biomaterials that could be used to treat soldiers injured in the field. Photo: Flickr Commons…Read more
Right Turn: Research at the bleeding edge. Literally.
How many university students can say they invented a product that people around the world will want to use? For that matter, how many people have ever invented a product that made it to the market?! Joe Landolina is CEO and Co-Founder of Suneris, Inc. and a student at the Polytechnic Institute of New York…Read more
Lego® and biomaterials: the building blocks of life
When I was a child, I would sit on my living room floor playing with my Lego set for hours on end. I recall building police cars, giant spaceships and all kinds of other amazing structures. My weekend mornings always began the same way: I would dump my box of Legos onto the floor and…Read more
Biomaterial gels: Some surprising uses for water
Only in the fictional land of Oz does water cause witches to melt. In the real world, water is essential to life and a valuable resource. Scientifically known as H2O, it is used to irrigate crops and even to enlarge/swell biomaterial gels (more on that later). As a biomaterials scientist, I’m particularly interested in the…Read more
Keeping pace with stem cell technology
On the same day that I learned the (disturbing and sad) news that a friend, a woman in her early 40s, has a pacemaker, I read that a stem cell scientist in cardiovascular medicine, at the University of California, has received a grant to develop stem cells that “could serve as a biological alternative to…Read more
Outrunning the cheetah: How biomaterials could make Pistorius even faster
I visited London at the end of August and was exposed to the Paralympics for the first time. One of the biggest stars of the London 2012 Paralympics was Oscar Pistorius, a 200m and 400m sprinter from South Africa with double, below-knee amputations. He received a great deal of media attention because he not…Read more
The tooth tattoo: A novel biosensor for disease detection
The last time I blogged here, I introduced the idea of using biomaterials to monitor and sense changes in various physiological environments. Having materials in the body that can do this allows for real-time feedback regarding changes in the body. The use of biosensors helps overcome the shortcomings of various disease-related diagnoses. For example, the…Read more
Researchers use their ‘noodles’: nanotechnology for regenerative medicine
Nanotechnology has been a buzzword in the medical technology community for some time. It is defined as the manipulation and use of microscopic structures at the molecular scale, generally 1-100 nanometres in size (1 nanometre is 1 billionth of a metre, which translates to approximately 1 billionth the length of a baseball bat!) Nanotechnology is…Read more
Using titanium to induce bone differentiation and personalized implants
Titanium can be found everywhere. It is used in cars, sporting equipment and even jewelry manufacturing. But did you know that titanium products are used inside the human body? You may know someone who has undergone a joint replacement procedure or someone who has a dental implant. For decades, titanium alloys have been used as…Read more
The evolution of biomaterials
I’ve been working in the field of biomaterials for over five years now. A short period of time, but nevertheless I’ve noticed that the field has evolved considerably. Since the inception of “biologically compatible materials,” their capabilities, functionalities and uses have undergone multiple stages of change. There are distinct turning points when biomaterial research is…Read more
