Nature-inspired sustainable medical materials

As life expectancy increases and health crises arise, our demand for medical materials is higher than ever. There has been, nevertheless, a concomitant increase in the reliance on traditional fabrication and disposal methods, which are environmentally harmful and energy intensive. Therefore, technologies need adaptations to ensure a more sustainable future for medicine. Such technological improvements could be designed by taking inspiration from nature, where the concept of “waste” is virtually non-existent. These nature-inspired solutions can be engineered into the lifecycle of medical materials at different points, from raw materials and fabrication to application and recycling. To achieve this, we present four technological developments as promising enablers – surface patterning, additive manufacturing, microfluidics, and synthetic biology. For each enabler, we discuss how sustainable solutions can be designed based on current understanding of, and ongoing research on, natural systems or concepts, including shark skin, decentralised manufacturing, process intensification, and synthetic biology

3D electrospinning used in medical materials

Electrospinning (ES) is an interesting and efficient technique for biomedical use. This is a method used for the fabrication of polymer fibers used in tissue engineering (TE). The electrospun nano- and microfibers biomaterial, called scaffolds, are also used for regenerative medicine. The aim of the present mini-review is to present methods used to fabricate 3D fibers by electrospinning and their applications in TE. Also, discussed here are issues regarding the electrospinning limitations and research challenges

The cooperation of Russian and German metal forming scientific schools to develop the new energy-efficient materials and technologies

The future scientific orientation of Katedra PDSS is in the area of materials forming and materials development with a focus on efficient processes regarding the use of energy and resources. Current research in the department PDSS is based on fundamental works on thermo-mechanical treatment of metals and on the modeling of nano-materials, rolled material and medical materials. This includes research on the relevant microstructural and macroscopic effects on the materials behavior. Together with its international research partners PDSS has excellent foundations for experimental research as well. With its international focus and its educational programs for students and skilled employees PDSS is an important partner of the Russian metal processing industry which supports Russian companies to compete on a world-class level

The Inventory Control of Disposable Medical Materials in The Inpatient Installation of X Private Hospital in Central Java

The hospital pharmacy is one of revenue center, besides 50% of all income derived from hospital management pharmaceutical supplies..The implementation of the inventory control the disposable material in hospitals is still done manually without any method of special calculations.  The purpose of this study is to analyze the inventory control of disposable medical materials in the inpatient installation of X private Hospital, in Central Java. This research is the qualitative study with those great case study aimed to locate and understand what is behind the phenomenon.  This research was conducted at X Hospital in Central Java from August to December 2022.  The sample of this research is 8 informants. Collecting data in this study with in-depth interviews.  Analysis of the research data is data reduction, data presentation and drawing conclusions. The results of the study did not find any special calculation method and still found accumulation of disposable materials in several inpatient wards. The obstacle that most contributed to hindering the planning process was the absence of average usage data in one month because there was no reporting from the user. Therefore, it can be concluded that the availability control at X Private Hospital in Central Java is not in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health.  it is suggested to the hospital to create a recording and reporting system regarding the use of consumable medical materials and it is necessary to have standard operating procedures and policies for the use of consumable medical materials in inpatient wards so that effective and efficient availability control can be carried out. Keyword: Disposable Medical Materials, Inventory Control, Logistics Management, Pharmaceutical Installatio

Plasma immersion ion implantation for the efficient surface modification of medical materials

The paper reports on a new method of plasma immersion ion implantation for the surface modification of medical materials using the example of nickel-titanium (NiTi) alloys much used for manufacturing medical implants. The chemical composition and surface properties of NiTi alloys doped with silicon by conventional ion implantation and by the proposed plasma immersion method are compared. It is shown that the new plasma immersion method is more efficient than conventional ion beam treatment and provides Si implantation into NiTi surface layers through a depth of a hundred nanometers at low bias voltages (400 V) and temperatures (≤150°C) of the substrate. The research results suggest that the chemical composition and surface properties of materials required for medicine, e.g., NiTi alloys, can be successfully attained through modification by the proposed method of plasma immersion ion implantation and by other methods based on the proposed vacuum equipment without using any conventional ion beam treatment

On the design of custom packs: grouping of medical disposable items for surgeries

A custom pack combines medical disposable items into a single sterile package that is used for surgical procedures. Although custom packs are gaining importance in hospitals due to their potential benefits in reducing surgery setup times, little is known on methodologies to configure them, especially if the number of medical items, procedure types and surgeons is large. In this paper, we propose a mathematical programming approach to guide hospitals in developing or reconfiguring their custom packs. In particular, we are interested in minimising points of touch, which we define as a measure for physical contact between staff and medical materials. Starting from an integer non-linear programming model, we develop both an exact linear programming (LP) solution approach and an LP-based heuristic. Next, we also describe a simulated annealing approach to benchmark the mathematical programming methods. A computational experiment, based on real data of a medium-sized Belgian hospital, compares the optimised results with the performance of the hospital’s current configuration settings and indicates how to improve future usage. Next to this base case, we introduce scenarios in which we examine to what extent the results are sensitive for waste, i.e. adding more items to the custom pack than is technically required for some of the custom pack’s procedures, since this can increase its applicability towards other procedures. We point at some interesting insights that can be taken up by the hospital management to guide the configuration and accompanying negotiation processes

Sorption analysis of composites based on zinc oxide for catalysis and medical materials science

Modified structures based on zinc oxide are of special interest in catalysis and medicine. The work discusses the composite structures based on zinc oxide and hydroxyapatite, as well as silver-modified zinc oxide nanostructures obtained by chemical deposition. The obtained materials were studied using a Rigaku SmartLab diffractometric complex and a Sorbi MS sorption analyzer. The specific surface area was studied and the average size of nanoparticles in the samples is determined. The application scope of the considered materials was catalysis and medicine, including the use in bone engineering as bioactive coatings deposited on the surface of a metal bioimplant

Effect of bias voltage on coating homogeneity in plasma immersion ion implantation

The paper presents research results demonstrating the influence of bias on the homogeneity of plasma immersion ion implantation. The research results allow the conclusion that plasma immersion ion implantation can be used to advantage for surface modification of medical materials, e.g., nickel-titanium (NiTi) alloys. In particular, doing of NiTi with silicon at pulsed bias provides highly homogeneous surface treatment

Evaluation of bone excision on occipital area of simulated human skull

Surgical effects of bone and soft tissue tumours, whether for biopsy or full excision have been researched from as early as the 1970’s [1]. These researches though have as main focus the biological (histological) rather the mechanical aspects of the effects [2]. With technological advances in biomedical and biomechanical modelling, a plethora of researchers have been exploring the possibilities of understanding [3] or even predicting musculoskeletal behaviour under different loading conditions [4]. This research is seeking to bridge these two different facets by looking into the mechanical effects bone tumour surgery might have to the structural rigidity of a simulated human skull