Design of a Customized multipurpose nano-enabled implantable system for in-vivo theranostics

The first part of this paper reviews the current development and key issues on implantable multi-sensor devices for in vivo theranostics. Afterwards, the authors propose an innovative biomedical multisensory system for in vivo biomarker monitoring that could be suitable for customized theranostics applications. At this point, findings suggest that cross-cutting Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) could improve the overall performance of the system given that the convergence of technologies in nanotechnology, biotechnology, micro&nanoelectronics and advanced materials permit the development of new medical devices of small dimensions, using biocompatible materials, and embedding reliable and targeted biosensors, high speed data communication, and even energy autonomy. Therefore, this article deals with new research and market challenges of implantable sensor devices, from the point of view of the pervasive system, and time-to-market. The remote clinical monitoring approach introduced in this paper could be based on an array of biosensors to extract information from the patient. A key contribution of the authors is that the general architecture introduced in this paper would require minor modifications for the final customized bio-implantable medical device

Virtuality Supports Reality for e-Health Applications

Strictly speaking the word “virtuality” or the expression “virtual reality” refers to an application for things simulated or created by the computer, which not really exist. More and more often such things are becoming equally referred with the adjective “virtual” or “digital” or mentioned with the prefixes “e-” or “cyber-”. So we know, for instance, of virtual or digital or e- or cyber- community, cash, business, greetings, books .. till even pets. The virtuality offers interesting advantages with respect to the “simple” reality, since it can reproduce, augment and even overcome the reality. The reproduction is not intended as it has been so far that a camera films a scenario from a fixed point of view and a player shows it, but today it is possible to reproduce the scene dynamically moving the point of view in practically any directions, and “real” becomes “realistic”. The virtuality can augment the reality in the sense that graphics are pulled out from a television screen (or computer/laptop/palm display) and integrated with the real world environments. In this way useful, and often in somehow essentials, information are added for the user. As an example new apps are now available even for iphone users who can obtain graphical information overlapped on camera played real scene surroundings, so directly reading the height of mountains, names of streets, lined up of satellites .., directly over the real mountains, the real streets, the real sky. But the virtuality can even overcome reality, since it can produce and make visible the hidden or inaccessible or old reality and even provide an alternative not real world. So we can virtually see deeply into the matter till atomic dimensions, realize a virtual tour in a past century or give visibility to hypothetical lands otherwise difficult or impossible to simple describe. These are the fundamental reasons for a naturally growing interest in “producing” virtuality. So here we will discuss about some of the different available methods to “produce” virtuality, in particular pointing out some steps necessary for “crossing” reality “towards” virtuality. But between these two parallel worlds, as the “real” and the “virtual” ones are, interactions can exist and this can lead to some further advantages. We will treat about the “production” and the “interaction” with the aim to focus the attention on how the virtuality can be applied in biomedical fields, since it has been demonstrated that virtual reality can furnish important and relevant benefits in e-health applications. As an example virtual tomography joins together 3D imaging anatomical features from several CT (Computerized axial Tomography) or MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) images overlapped with a computer-generated kinesthetic interface so to obtain a useful tool in diagnosis and healing. With the new endovascular simulation possibilities, a head mounted display superimposes 3D images on the patient’s skin so to furnish a direction for implantable devices inside blood vessels. Among all, we chose to investigate the fields where we believe the virtual applications can furnish the meaningful advantages, i.e. in surgery simulation, in cognitive and neurological rehabilitation, in postural and motor training, in brain computer interface. We will furnish to the reader a necessary partial but at the same time fundamental view on what the virtual reality can do to improve possible medical treatment and so, at the end, resulting a better quality of our life

An Analytical Model of Joule Heating in Piezoresistive Microcantilevers

The present study investigates Joule heating in piezoresistive microcantilever sensors. Joule heating and thermal deflections are a major source of noise in such sensors. This work uses analytical and numerical techniques to characterise the Joule heating in 4-layer piezoresistive microcantilevers made of silicon and silicon dioxide substrates but with the same U-shaped silicon piezoresistor. A theoretical model for predicting the temperature generated due to Joule heating is developed. The commercial finite element software ANSYS Multiphysics was used to study the effect of electrical potential on temperature and deflection produced in the cantilevers. The effect of piezoresistor width on Joule heating is also studied. Results show that Joule heating strongly depends on the applied potential and width of piezoresistor and that a silicon substrate cantilever has better thermal characteristics than a silicon dioxide cantilever

Lab-on-PCB Devices

Lab-on-PCB devices can be considered an emerging technology. In fact, most of the contributions have been published during the last 5 years. It is mainly focussed on both biomedical and electronic applications. The book includes an interesting guide for using the different layers of the Printed Circuit Boards for developing new devices; guidelines for fabricating PCB-based electrochemical biosensors, and an overview of fluid manipulation devices fabricated using Printed Circuit Boards. In addition, current PCB-based devices are reported, and studies for several aspects of research and development of lab-on-PCB devices are described

Systems and algorithms for wireless sensor networks based on animal and natural behavior

In last decade, there have been many research works about wireless sensor networks (WSNs) focused on improving the network performance as well as increasing the energy efficiency and communications effectiveness. Many of these new mechanisms have been implemented using the behaviors of certain animals, such as ants, bees, or schools of fish.These systems are called bioinspired systems and are used to improve aspects such as handling large-scale networks, provide dynamic nature, and avoid resource constraints, heterogeneity, unattended operation, or robustness, amongmanyothers.Therefore, thispaper aims to studybioinspired mechanisms in the field ofWSN, providing the concepts of these behavior patterns in which these new approaches are based. The paper will explain existing bioinspired systems in WSNs and analyze their impact on WSNs and their evolution. In addition, we will conduct a comprehensive review of recently proposed bioinspired systems, protocols, and mechanisms. Finally, this paper will try to analyze the applications of each bioinspired mechanism as a function of the imitated animal and the deployed application. Although this research area is considered an area with highly theoretical content, we intend to show the great impact that it is generating from the practical perspective.Sendra, S.; Parra Boronat, L.; Lloret, J.; Khan, S. (2015). Systems and algorithms for wireless sensor networks based on animal and natural behavior. International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks. 2015:1-19. doi:10.1155/2015/625972S1192015Iram, R., Sheikh, M. I., Jabbar, S., & Minhas, A. A. (2011). Computational intelligence based optimization in wireless sensor network. 2011 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies. doi:10.1109/icict.2011.5983561Lloret, J., Bosch, I., Sendra, S., & Serrano, A. (2011). A Wireless Sensor Network for Vineyard Monitoring That Uses Image Processing. Sensors, 11(6), 6165-6196. doi:10.3390/s110606165Lloret, J., Garcia, M., Bri, D., & Sendra, S. (2009). A Wireless Sensor Network Deployment for Rural and Forest Fire Detection and Verification. Sensors, 9(11), 8722-8747. doi:10.3390/s91108722Dasgupta, P. (2008). A Multiagent Swarming System for Distributed Automatic Target Recognition Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics - Part A: Systems and Humans, 38(3), 549-563. doi:10.1109/tsmca.2008.918619Quwaider, M., & Biswas, S. (2012). Delay Tolerant Routing Protocol Modeling for Low Power Wearable Wireless Sensor Networks. Network Protocols and Algorithms, 4(3). doi:10.5296/npa.v4i3.2054Sendra, S., Lloret, J., Garcia, M., & Toledo, J. F. (2011). Power Saving and Energy Optimization Techniques for Wireless Sensor Neworks (Invited Paper). Journal of Communications, 6(6). doi:10.4304/jcm.6.6.439-459Liu, M., & Song, C. (2012). Ant-Based Transmission Range Assignment Scheme for Energy Hole Problem in Wireless Sensor Networks. International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks, 8(12), 290717. doi:10.1155/2012/290717Riva, G., & Finochietto, J. M. (2012). Pheromone-based In-Network Processing for Wireless Sensor Network Monitoring Systems. Network Protocols and Algorithms, 4(4). doi:10.5296/npa.v4i4.2206Garcia, M., Sendra, S., Lloret, J., & Canovas, A. (2011). Saving energy and improving communications using cooperative group-based Wireless Sensor Networks. Telecommunication Systems, 52(4), 2489-2502. doi:10.1007/s11235-011-9568-3Kim, J.-Y., Sharma, T., Kumar, B., Tomar, G. S., Berry, K., & Lee, W.-H. (2014). Intercluster Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Network in Dense Environment. International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks, 10(4), 457402. doi:10.1155/2014/457402Dressler, F., & Akan, O. B. (2010). A survey on bio-inspired networking. Computer Networks, 54(6), 881-900. doi:10.1016/j.comnet.2009.10.024Atakan, B., & Akan, O. B. (2006). Immune System Based Distributed Node and Rate Selection in Wireless Sensor Networks. 2006 1st Bio-Inspired Models of Network, Information and Computing Systems. doi:10.1109/bimnics.2006.361806Di Pietro, R., & Verde, N. V. (2011). Introducing epidemic models for data survivability in Unattended Wireless Sensor Networks. 2011 IEEE International Symposium on a World of Wireless, Mobile and Multimedia Networks. doi:10.1109/wowmom.2011.5986165Marwaha, S., Indulska, J., & Portmann, M. (2009). Biologically Inspired Ant-Based Routing in Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANET): A Survey. 2009 Symposia and Workshops on Ubiquitous, Autonomic and Trusted Computing. doi:10.1109/uic-atc.2009.95Jha, V., Khetarpal, K., & Sharma, M. (2011). A survey of nature inspired routing algorithms for MANETs. 2011 3rd International Conference on Electronics Computer Technology. doi:10.1109/icectech.2011.5942042Fernandez-Marquez, J. L., Di Marzo Serugendo, G., Montagna, S., Viroli, M., & Arcos, J. L. (2012). Description and composition of bio-inspired design patterns: a complete overview. Natural Computing, 12(1), 43-67. doi:10.1007/s11047-012-9324-yCamilo, T., Carreto, C., Silva, J. S., & Boavida, F. (2006). An Energy-Efficient Ant-Based Routing Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Networks. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 49-59. doi:10.1007/11839088_5Selvakennedy, S., Sinnappan, S., & Shang, Y. (2006). T-ANT: A Nature-Inspired Data Gathering Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks. Journal of Communications, 1(2). doi:10.4304/jcm.1.2.22-29Almshreqi, A. M. S., Ali, B. M., Rasid, M. F. A., Ismail, A., & Varahram, P. (2012). An improved routing mechanism using bio-inspired for energy balancing in wireless sensor networks. The International Conference on Information Network 2012. doi:10.1109/icoin.2012.6164367Chen, G., Guo, T.-D., Yang, W.-G., & Zhao, T. (2006). An improved ant-based routing protocol in Wireless Sensor Networks. 2006 International Conference on Collaborative Computing: Networking, Applications and Worksharing. doi:10.1109/colcom.2006.361893Okdem, S., & Karaboga, D. (2006). Routing in Wireless Sensor Networks Using Ant Colony Optimization. First NASA/ESA Conference on Adaptive Hardware and Systems (AHS’06). doi:10.1109/ahs.2006.63Salehpour, A.-A., Mirmobin, B., Afzali-Kusha, A., & Mohammadi, S. (2008). An energy efficient routing protocol for cluster-based wireless sensor networks using ant colony optimization. 2008 International Conference on Innovations in Information Technology. doi:10.1109/innovations.2008.4781748Wen, Y., Chen, Y., & Pan, M. (2008). Adaptive ant-based routing in wireless sensor networks using Energy*Delay metrics. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE A, 9(4), 531-538. doi:10.1631/jzus.a071382Liao, W.-H., Kao, Y., & Wu, R.-T. (2011). Ant colony optimization based sensor deployment protocol for wireless sensor networks. Expert Systems with Applications, 38(6), 6599-6605. doi:10.1016/j.eswa.2010.11.079Pavai, K., Sivagami, A., & Sridharan, D. (2009). Study of Routing Protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks. 2009 International Conference on Advances in Computing, Control, and Telecommunication Technologies. doi:10.1109/act.2009.133Juan, L., Chen, S., & Chao, Z. (2007). Ant System Based Anycast Routing in Wireless Sensor Networks. 2007 International Conference on Wireless Communications, Networking and Mobile Computing. doi:10.1109/wicom.2007.603Wang, C., & Lin, Q. (2008). Swarm intelligence optimization based routing algorithm for Wireless Sensor Networks. 2008 International Conference on Neural Networks and Signal Processing. doi:10.1109/icnnsp.2008.4590326Jiang, H., Wang, M., Liu, M., & Yan, J. (2012). A quantum-inspired ant-based routing algorithm for WSNs. Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE 16th International Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work in Design (CSCWD). doi:10.1109/cscwd.2012.6221881Okazaki, A. M., & Frohlich, A. A. (2011). Ant-based Dynamic Hop Optimization Protocol: A routing algorithm for Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks. 2011 IEEE GLOBECOM Workshops (GC Wkshps). doi:10.1109/glocomw.2011.6162356Hui, X., Zhigang, Z., & Xueguang, Z. (2009). A Novel Routing Protocol in Wireless Sensor Networks Based on Ant Colony Optimization. 2009 International Conference on Environmental Science and Information Application Technology. doi:10.1109/esiat.2009.460AbdelSalam, H. S., & Olariu, S. (2012). BEES: BioinspirEd backbonE Selection in Wireless Sensor Networks. IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, 23(1), 44-51. doi:10.1109/tpds.2011.100Da Silva Rego, A., Celestino, J., dos Santos, A., Cerqueira, E. C., Patel, A., & Taghavi, M. (2012). BEE-C: A bio-inspired energy efficient cluster-based algorithm for data continuous dissemination in Wireless Sensor Networks. 2012 18th IEEE International Conference on Networks (ICON). doi:10.1109/icon.2012.6506592Neshat, M., Sepidnam, G., Sargolzaei, M., & Toosi, A. N. (2012). Artificial fish swarm algorithm: a survey of the state-of-the-art, hybridization, combinatorial and indicative applications. Artificial Intelligence Review, 42(4), 965-997. doi:10.1007/s10462-012-9342-2Antoniou, P., Pitsillides, A., Blackwell, T., & Engelbrecht, A. (2009). Employing the flocking behavior of birds for controlling congestion in autonomous decentralized networks. 2009 IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation. doi:10.1109/cec.2009.4983153Ruihua, Z., Zhiping, J., Xin, L., & Dongxue, H. (2011). Double cluster-heads clustering algorithm for wireless sensor networks using PSO. 2011 6th IEEE Conference on Industrial Electronics and Applications. doi:10.1109/iciea.2011.5975688Kulkarni, R. V., Venayagamoorthy, G. K., & Cheng, M. X. (2009). Bio-inspired node localization in wireless sensor networks. 2009 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics. doi:10.1109/icsmc.2009.5346107Kulkarni, R. V., & Venayagamoorthy, G. K. (2010). Bio-inspired Algorithms for Autonomous Deployment and Localization of Sensor Nodes. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part C (Applications and Reviews), 40(6), 663-675. doi:10.1109/tsmcc.2010.2049649Xin Song, Cuirong Wang, Wang, J., & Bin Zhang. (2010). A hierarchical routing protocol based on AFSO algorithm for WSN. 2010 International Conference On Computer Design and Applications. doi:10.1109/iccda.2010.5541265Gao, X. Z., Wu, Y., Zenger, K., & Huang, X. (2010). A Knowledge-Based Artificial Fish-Swarm Algorithm. 2010 13th IEEE International Conference on Computational Science and Engineering. doi:10.1109/cse.2010.49Wang, L., & Ma, L. (2011). A hybrid artificial fish swarm algorithm for Bin-packing problem. Proceedings of 2011 International Conference on Electronic & Mechanical Engineering and Information Technology. doi:10.1109/emeit.2011.6022829Yiyue, W., Hongmei, L., & Hengyang, H. (2012). Wireless Sensor Network Deployment Using an Optimized Artificial Fish Swarm Algorithm. 2012 International Conference on Computer Science and Electronics Engineering. doi:10.1109/iccsee.2012.453Yang, X.-S. (2010). A New Metaheuristic Bat-Inspired Algorithm. Studies in Computational Intelligence, 65-74. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-12538-6_6Goyal, S., & Patterh, M. S. (2013). Performance of BAT Algorithm on Localization of Wireless Sensor Network. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMPUTERS & TECHNOLOGY, 6(3), 351-358. doi:10.24297/ijct.v6i3.4481Krishnanand, K. N., & Ghose, D. (2006). Glowworm swarm based optimization algorithm for multimodal functions with collective robotics applications. Multiagent and Grid Systems, 2(3), 209-222. doi:10.3233/mgs-2006-2301Apostolopoulos, T., & Vlachos, A. (2011). Application of the Firefly Algorithm for Solving the Economic Emissions Load Dispatch Problem. International Journal of Combinatorics, 2011, 1-23. doi:10.1155/2011/523806Liao, W.-H., Kao, Y., & Li, Y.-S. (2011). A sensor deployment approach using glowworm swarm optimization algorithm in wireless sensor networks. Expert Systems with Applications, 38(10), 12180-12188. doi:10.1016/j.eswa.2011.03.053Sun, Y., Jiang, Q., & Zhang, K. (2012). A clustering scheme for Reachback Firefly Synchronicity in wireless sensor networks. 2012 3rd IEEE International Conference on Network Infrastructure and Digital Content. doi:10.1109/icnidc.2012.6418705Zungeru, A. M., Ang, L.-M., & Seng, K. P. (2012). Termite-Hill. International Journal of Swarm Intelligence Research, 3(4), 1-22. doi:10.4018/jsir.2012100101KumarE, S., S. M., K., & Kumar B. P., V. (2014). Clustering Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks based on Rhesus Macaque (Macaca mulatta) Animal's Social Behavior. 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Computer Communications, 33(17), 2039-2047. doi:10.1016/j.comcom.2010.07.020Benahmed, K., Merabti, M., & Haffaf, H. (2012). Inspired Social Spider Behavior for Secure Wireless Sensor Networks. International Journal of Mobile Computing and Multimedia Communications, 4(4), 1-10. doi:10.4018/jmcmc.2012100101Alrajeh, N. A., & Lloret, J. (2013). Intrusion Detection Systems Based on Artificial Intelligence Techniques in Wireless Sensor Networks. International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks, 9(10), 351047. doi:10.1155/2013/351047Hussain, S., Matin, A. W., & Islam, O. (2007). Genetic Algorithm for Hierarchical Wireless Sensor Networks. Journal of Networks, 2(5). doi:10.4304/jnw.2.5.87-97Hussain, S., Matin, A. W., & Islam, O. (2007). Genetic Algorithm for Energy Efficient Clusters in Wireless Sensor Networks. Fourth International Conference on Information Technology (ITNG’07). doi:10.1109/itng.2007.97Ferentinos, K. P., & Tsiligiridis, T. A. (2007). Adaptive design optimization of wireless sensor networks using genetic algorithms. Computer Networks, 51(4), 1031-1051. doi:10.1016/j.comnet.2006.06.013Jia, J., Chen, J., Chang, G., & Tan, Z. (2009). Energy efficient coverage control in wireless sensor networks based on multi-objective genetic algorithm. Computers & Mathematics with Applications, 57(11-12), 1756-1766. doi:10.1016/j.camwa.2008.10.036Nan, G.-F., Li, M.-Q., & Li, J. (2007). Estimation of Node Localization with a Real-Coded Genetic Algorithm in WSNs. 2007 International Conference on Machine Learning and Cybernetics. doi:10.1109/icmlc.2007.4370265Saleem, K., Fisal, N., Abdullah, M. S., Zulkarmwan, A. B., Hafizah, S., & Kamilah, S. (2009). Proposed Nature Inspired Self-Organized Secure Autonomous Mechanism for WSNs. 2009 First Asian Conference on Intelligent Information and Database Systems. doi:10.1109/aciids.2009.75Jabbari, A., & Lang, W. (2010). Advanced Bio-inspired Plausibility Checking in a Wireless Sensor Network Using Neuro-immune Systems: Autonomous Fault Diagnosis in an Intelligent Transportation System. 2010 Fourth International Conference on Sensor Technologies and Applications. doi:10.1109/sensorcomm.2010.24Ponnusamy, V., & Abdullah, A. (2010). Biologically Inspired (Botany) Mobile Agent Based Self-Healing Wireless Sensor Network. 2010 Sixth International Conference on Intelligent Environments. doi:10.1109/ie.2010.46Li, J., Cui, Z., & Shi, Z. (2012). An Improved Artificial Plant Optimization Algorithm for Coverage Problem in WSN. Sensor Letters, 10(8), 1874-1878. doi:10.1166/sl.2012.2627Sendra, S., Llario, F., Parra, L., & Lloret, J. (2014). Smart Wireless Sensor Network to Detect and Protect Sheep and Goats to Wolf Attacks. Recent Advances in Communications and Networking Technology, 2(2), 91-101. doi:10.2174/22117407112016660012Sendra, S., Granell, E., Lloret, J., & Rodrigues, J. J. P. C. (2013). 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Emotion and Stress Recognition Related Sensors and Machine Learning Technologies

This book includes impactful chapters which present scientific concepts, frameworks, architectures and ideas on sensing technologies and machine learning techniques. These are relevant in tackling the following challenges: (i) the field readiness and use of intrusive sensor systems and devices for capturing biosignals, including EEG sensor systems, ECG sensor systems and electrodermal activity sensor systems; (ii) the quality assessment and management of sensor data; (iii) data preprocessing, noise filtering and calibration concepts for biosignals; (iv) the field readiness and use of nonintrusive sensor technologies, including visual sensors, acoustic sensors, vibration sensors and piezoelectric sensors; (v) emotion recognition using mobile phones and smartwatches; (vi) body area sensor networks for emotion and stress studies; (vii) the use of experimental datasets in emotion recognition, including dataset generation principles and concepts, quality insurance and emotion elicitation material and concepts; (viii) machine learning techniques for robust emotion recognition, including graphical models, neural network methods, deep learning methods, statistical learning and multivariate empirical mode decomposition; (ix) subject-independent emotion and stress recognition concepts and systems, including facial expression-based systems, speech-based systems, EEG-based systems, ECG-based systems, electrodermal activity-based systems, multimodal recognition systems and sensor fusion concepts and (x) emotion and stress estimation and forecasting from a nonlinear dynamical system perspective

3D Printed Microfluidic Devices

3D printing has revolutionized the microfabrication prototyping workflow over the past few years. With the recent improvements in 3D printing technologies, highly complex microfluidic devices can be fabricated via single-step, rapid, and cost-effective protocols as a promising alternative to the time consuming, costly and sophisticated traditional cleanroom fabrication. Microfluidic devices have enabled a wide range of biochemical and clinical applications, such as cancer screening, micro-physiological system engineering, high-throughput drug testing, and point-of-care diagnostics. Using 3D printing fabrication technologies, alteration of the design features is significantly easier than traditional fabrication, enabling agile iterative design and facilitating rapid prototyping. This can make microfluidic technology more accessible to researchers in various fields and accelerates innovation in the field of microfluidics. Accordingly, this Special Issue seeks to showcase research papers, short communications, and review articles that focus on novel methodological developments in 3D printing and its use for various biochemical and biomedical applications

Engineering Education and Research Using MATLAB

MATLAB is a software package used primarily in the field of engineering for signal processing, numerical data analysis, modeling, programming, simulation, and computer graphic visualization. In the last few years, it has become widely accepted as an efficient tool, and, therefore, its use has significantly increased in scientific communities and academic institutions. This book consists of 20 chapters presenting research works using MATLAB tools. Chapters include techniques for programming and developing Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs), dynamic systems, electric machines, signal and image processing, power electronics, mixed signal circuits, genetic programming, digital watermarking, control systems, time-series regression modeling, and artificial neural networks

Urinary Stents

This open access book provides a concise overview of a range of aspects related to urinary stents. Sections within the work cover clinical and recent technological advancements in the field. Chapters feature detailed coverage of the different surgical, pharmacological and palliative treatments currently available. Insight is also given on current limitations of urinary stents and how these can be overcome by utilizing anti-biofilm coatings; new biomaterials, drug-eluting stents, and biodegradable stents. Therefore, enabling the reader to systematically gain a detailed understanding of the subject. Urinary Stents is a practical, multi-disciplinary focused resource on the complications and applications of ureteral, urethral and prostatic stents in day-to-day clinical practice. A vital read for all medical professionals and researchers who work in this area