Recent Advances of Mechanical Engineering Applications in Medicine and Biology

Background: Mechanics is an area of science dealing with the behavior of physical bodies (solids and fluids) undergoing action of forces, it comprised of statics, kinetics and kinematics.  The advances and research in Applied Mechanics has wide application in almost fields of study including medicine and biology. In this paper, the relationship between mechanical engineering and medicine and biological sciences is investigated based on its application in these two sacred fields. Some emergent mechanical techniques applied in medical sciences and practices are presented. Methods: Emerging applications of mechanical engineering in medical and biological sciences are presented and investigated including: biomechanics, nanomechanics and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Results: This review article presents some recent advances of mechanical engineering applications in medicine and biology. Specifically, this work focuses on three major subjects of interests:  Biomechanics that is increasingly being recognized as an important application of mechanical fundamentals in biomedical and biological sciences and practices, biomechanics can play a crucial role in both injury prevention as well as performance enhancement of living systems. Novel techniques of nanomechanics including: Carbon nanotubes  applications in therapy, DNA recognition, immunology and antiviral resistance. Nanorobotics that combines between nanotechnology, mechanics and new biomaterials to design and develop nanorobots based bacteria and biochips; these nanoscale robots can be involved in biomedical applications, particularly for the treatment of cancer, cerebral aneurysm treatment, kidney stones removal surgery, treatment of pathology, elimination of defected parts in the DNA structure, and some other treatments to save human lives. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools that contribute on the understanding of blood flows, human organs dynamics and surgical options simulation. Conclusion: Recent advances of mechanical applications in medicine and biology are carried out in this review, such as biomechanics, nanomechanics and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). As perspectives, mechanical scholars and engineers can involve these cited applications in their researches to solve many problems and issues that doctors and biologists cannot

The eminent need for an academic program in universities to teach nanomedicine

Nanomedicine is on the cutting edge of technology applied to medical and biological sciences. Nanodevices, nanomaterials, nanoinstruments, nanotechnologies, and nanotechniques (laboratory methods and procedures) are important for the modern practice of medicine and essential for research that could stimulate the discovery of new medical advances. Accordingly, there is an eminent need for implementing an academic program in universities to teach this indispensable and pragmatic discipline, especially in the departments of graduate studies and research in the areas of pharmacology, genetic engineering, proteomics, and molecular and cellular biology

Future Trends in Pharmaceuticals: Investigation of the Role of AI in Drug Discovery, 3D Printing of Medications, and Nanomedicine

The pharmaceutical sector has to deal with issues like high costs, difficult diseases, and the demand for tailored therapy. The transformational potential of AI, 3D printing, and nanomedicine is examined in this paper. Drug development is revolutionized by AI, which also predicts effectiveness and personalizes therapies. Tailors, prescriptions, and complex documents can all be 3D printed to help with compliance. Nanoparticles are used in nanomedicine to deliver drugs more precisely and enhance solubility. Future themes include AI-driven target identification and individualized treatment; the effectiveness and role of 3D printing in personalized medicine; and improved medication delivery through nanomedicine. These developments promise to alter healthcare, which will help a lot of people. The study results offers a thorough examination of upcoming trends in the pharmaceutical industry and similarly discusses developments in 3D printing and nanomedicine

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Computational Nanotoxicology: Unlocking and Empowering Nanomedicine.

AbstractAdvances in nanomedicine, coupled with novel methods of creating advanced materials at the nanoscale, have opened new perspectives for the development of healthcare and medical products. Special attention must be paid toward safe design approaches for nanomaterial‐based products. Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) gifted the computational tool for enhancing and improving the simulation and modeling process for nanotoxicology and nanotherapeutics. In particular, the correlation of in vitro generated pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics to in vivo application scenarios is an important step toward the development of safe nanomedicinal products. This review portrays how in vitro and in vivo datasets are used in in silico models to unlock and empower nanomedicine. Physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling and absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME)‐based in silico methods along with dosimetry models as a focus area for nanomedicine are mainly described. The computational OMICS, colloidal particle determination, and algorithms to establish dosimetry for inhalation toxicology, and quantitative structure–activity relationships at nanoscale (nano‐QSAR) are revisited. The challenges and opportunities facing the blind spots in nanotoxicology in this computationally dominated era are highlighted as the future to accelerate nanomedicine clinical translation

Bioinspired Networks of Communicating Synthetic Protocells

The bottom-up synthesis of cell-like entities or protocells from inanimate molecules and materials is one of the grand challenges of our time. In the past decade, researchers in the emerging field of bottom-up synthetic biology have developed different protocell models and engineered them to mimic one or more abilities of biological cells, such as information transcription and translation, adhesion, and enzyme-mediated metabolism. Whilst thus far efforts have focused on increasing the biochemical complexity of individual protocells, an emerging challenge in bottom-up synthetic biology is the development of networks of communicating synthetic protocells. The possibility of engineering multi-protocellular systems capable of sending and receiving chemical signals to trigger individual or collective programmed cell-like behaviours or for communicating with living cells and tissues would lead to major scientific breakthroughs with important applications in biotechnology, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. This mini-review will discuss this new, emerging area of bottom-up synthetic biology and will introduce three types of bioinspired networks of communicating synthetic protocells that have recently emerged

The Cybernetic Revolution and Historical Process

The article analyzes the technological shifts which took place in the second half of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries and predict the main shifts in the next half a century. On the basis of the analysis of the latest achievements in medicine, bio- and nanotechnologies, robotics, ICT and other technological directions and also on the basis of the opportunities provided by the theory of production revolutions the authors present a detailed analysis of the latest production revolution which is denoted as ‘Cybernetic’. There are given some forecasts about its development in the nearest five decades and up to the end of twenty-first century. It is shown that the development of various self-regulating systems will be the main trend of this revolution. The article gives a detailed analysis of the future breakthroughs in medicine, and also in bio- and nanotechnologies in terms of the development of self-regulating systems with their growing ability to select optimal modes of functioning as well as of other characteristics of the Cybernetic Revolution (resources and energy saving, miniaturization, and individualization)

Prospects and applications of nanobiotechnology: a medical perspective

Abstract Background Nanobiotechnology is the application of nanotechnology in biological fields. Nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that currently recruits approach, technology and facility available in conventional as well as advanced avenues of engineering, physics, chemistry and biology. Method A comprehensive review of the literature on the principles, limitations, challenges, improvements and applications of nanotechnology in medical science was performed. Results Nanobiotechnology has multitude of potentials for advancing medical science thereby improving health care practices around the world. Many novel nanoparticles and nanodevices are expected to be used, with an enormous positive impact on human health. While true clinical applications of nanotechnology are still practically inexistent, a significant number of promising medical projects are in an advanced experimental stage. Implementation of nanotechnology in medicine and physiology means that mechanisms and devices are so technically designed that they can interact with sub-cellular (i.e. molecular) levels of the body with a high degree of specificity. Thus therapeutic efficacy can be achieved to maximum with minimal side effects by means of the targeted cell or tissue-specific clinical intervention. Conclusion More detailed research and careful clinical trials are still required to introduce diverse components of nanobiotechnology in random clinical applications with success. Ethical and moral concerns also need to be addressed in parallel with the new developments.</p

Stimuli-Responsive Porous Nanomaterials for Controlled Drug Delivery and Gene Therapy

Stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems have become increasingly fascinating and vital in nanomedicine because they can change the drugs pharmacokinetics, significantly improve the drugs utilization efficiency, provide on-demand local drug delivery, and reduce toxic side effects. As a typical representative, porous nanomaterials have unique physicochemical properties, such as rich pore structure, low density, high surface area, and tunable porous size. They show great promise not only in industrial catalysis, gas adsorption, linear optics, and electromagnetic materials, but also in stimuliresponsive delivery system for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. This thesis mainly focuses on some important scientific issues such as seeking new release and targeting mechanisms, broadening their biomedical applications, developing multifunctional drug delivery systems, exploring biomimetic encapsulation strategies, and further improving the loading diversity of nanocarriers. Here, we have designed different drug/biomolecule delivery systems based on porous nanomaterials, which are listed as follows: First, mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSNs)-based drug delivery system with in vivo endothelial targeting was prepared for the inhibition of antibodymediated rejection after allograft kidney transplantation. The photothermal sensitive copper sulphide (CuS) nanoparticles were encapsulated in biocompatible MSNs, followed by multi-step surface engineering to form the anti-inflammatory drug-loaded theragnostic nanoparticles. Non-invasive targeting imaging, and near-infrared (NIR) triggered photothermal responsive drug release investigations demonstrated this system can reduce systemic inflammation, downregulate innate immune responses and promote recovery of the injured endothelium. Intracellular delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 plasmids via MSNs was subsequently explored for homology-directed repair through gene editing. By microfluidic-assisted electrostatic nanoprecipitation, polymer was coated onto plasmid-loaded MSNs to prevent biomolecule denaturation by EcoRV restriction enzymes as well as premature release. The pH-responsive breakdown of the polymer enabled controlled intracellular release of the plasmid and knock-in of the paxillin gene sequence. However, due to the low encapsulation efficiency and complex assembly process, there is a need to develop new porous vectors that can be easily prepared, have better drug and biomolecular loading capacity, and have better biocompatibility and biodegradability. Therefore, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with good biocompatibility are used for drug delivery. By post-synthetic modification with disulfide anhydride and folic acid, MOFs with redox-responsive and tumor-targeting properties were constructed as a dual-drug carrier, exhibiting synergistic enhanced anticancer effects. However, pre-prepared MOFs have the same problems as MSNs in delivering biomolecules, and the encapsulation of MOFs with postsynthetic modification provides limited protection for biomolecules. Biomimetic mineralisation technique, which has been extensively studied for inorganic systems, was applied to the synthesis of MOFs to wrap and protect biomolecules, such as the encapsulation of CRISPR-Cas9 plasmids into MOFs, where controlled nanostructures were synthesised in situ through a biomolecule-mediated strategy. The structure-function relationship studies showed that the nanostructures of the MOF coatings greatly influence the biological properties of the contained biomolecules through different embedding structures. With the help of the superior ZIF-8 vector, the GFPtagged paxillin genomic sequence was successfully knocked in a cancer cell line with high transfection potency. In addition, microfluidic-assisted biomineralization strategy for MOFs was utilised for efficient delivery and remote regulation of CRISPR-Cas9 ribonucleic acid protein (RNP)-based gene editing. By tuning different microfluidic parameters, well-defined and comparable RNP-encapsulated nanocarriers were obtained with high delivery efficiency, significant protection and NIR-responsive release, endosomal escape and precise gene knock-down capabilities.Stimuli-responsiva system för läkemedelstillförsel har blivit alltmer fascinerande och viktiga inom nanomedicin eftersom de kan förändra läkemedlens farmakokinetik, avsevärt förbättra läkemedelsutnyttjandet, tillhandahålla lokal läkemedelstillförsel på begäran och minska toxiska biverkningar. Som en typisk representant har porösa nanomaterial unika fysikalisk-kemiska egenskaper, t.ex. rik porstruktur, låg densitet, hög yta och justerbar porstorlek. De är mycket lovande inte bara inom industriell katalys, gasadsorption, linjär optik och elektromagnetiska material, utan även inom stimulansresponsiva leveranssystem för diagnos och behandling av sjukdomar. Denna avhandling fokuserar huvudsakligen på några viktiga vetenskapliga frågor, t.ex. att söka nya frisättnings- och målinriktningsmekanismer, bredda deras biomedicinska tillämpningar, utveckla multifunktionella system för läkemedelstillförsel, utforska biomimetiska inkapslingsstrategier och ytterligare förbättra laddningsmångfalden hos nanodragare. Här har vi konstruerat olika system för att leverera läkemedel/biomolekyler baserade på porösa nanomaterial, som listas nedan: För det första framställdes ett mesoporöst kiseldioxidnanopartikelsystem (MSN) baserat på läkemedelsleveranser med in vivo endotelmålsättning för att hämma antikroppsmedierad avstötning efter en njurtransplantation med allograft. De fototermiskt känsliga kopparsulfidnanopartiklarna (CuS) kapslades in i biokompatibla MSN, följt av en ytkonstruktion i flera steg för att bilda antiinflammatoriska nanopartiklar laddade med teragnostiska läkemedel. Undersökningar av icke-invasiv målbildsanalys och NIR-utlöst fototermisk responsiv läkemedelsfrisättning visade att detta system kan minska systemisk inflammation, nedreglera det medfödda immunförsvaret och främja återhämtning av skadat endotel. Intracellulär leverans av CRISPR/Cas9-plasmider via MSN:er undersöktes därefter för homologiskt riktad reparation genom genredigering. Genom elektrostatisk nanoprecipitering med hjälp av mikrofluidik har polymeren belagts på plasmidladdade MSN:er för att förhindra denaturering av biomolekylerna med hjälp av EcoRVrestriktionsenzymerna och för tidig frisättning. Den pH-responsiva nedbrytningen av polymeren möjliggjorde en kontrollerad intracellulär frisättning av plasmidet och knock-in av paxillin-gensekvensen. På grund av den låga inkapslingseffektiviteten och den komplexa monteringsprocessen finns det dock ett behov av att utveckla nya porösa vektorer som lätt kan framställas, som har bättre laddningskapacitet för läkemedel och biomolekyler och som har bättre biokompatibilitet och biologisk nedbrytbarhet. Därför används metallorganiska ramverk (MOF) med god biokompatibilitet för läkemedelsleveranser. Genom postsyntetisk modifiering med disulfidanhydrid och folsyra konstruerades MOF:er med redoxresponsiva och tumörmålande egenskaper som en dubbel läkemedelsbärare som uppvisar synergistiska förbättrade cancerbekämpande effekter. Förberedda MOF:er har dock samma problem som MSN:er när det gäller att leverera biomolekyler, och inkapsling av MOF:er med postsyntetisk modifiering ger ett begränsat skydd för biomolekyler. Den biomimetiska mineraliseringstekniken, som har studerats ingående för oorganiska system, tillämpades på syntesen av MOF:er för att omsluta och skydda biomolekyler, t.ex. inkapsling av CRISPR-Cas9-plasmider i MOF:er, där kontrollerade nanostrukturer syntetiserades in situ genom en biomolekylmedierad strategi. Studierna av strukturfunktionsförhållandet visade att MOF-beläggningarnas nanostrukturer i hög grad påverkar de biologiska egenskaperna hos de ingående biomolekylerna genom olika inbäddningsstrukturer. Med hjälp av den överlägsna ZIF-8-vektorn lyckades man framgångsrikt slå ut den GFP-märkta genomsekvensen av paxillin i en cancercelllinje med hög transfektionsförmåga. Dessutom utnyttjades en mikrofluidiskt assisterad biomineraliseringsstrategi för MOFs för effektiv leverans och fjärrreglering av CRISPR-Cas9 ribonukleinsyreprotein (RNP)-baserad genredigering. Genom att ställa in olika mikrofluidiska parametrar erhölls väldefinierade och jämförbara RNP-inkapslade nanodragare med hög leveranseffektivitet, betydande skydd och NIRresponsiv frisättning, endosomal flykt och exakta möjligheter att slå ner gener