Confined compression of collagen hydrogels

Reconstituted collagen hydrogels are often used for in vitro studies of cell-matrix interaction and as scaffolds for tissue engineering. Understanding the mechanical and transport behaviours of collagen hydrogels is therefore extremely important, albeit difficult due to their very high water content (typically > 99.5%). In the present study the mechanical behaviour of collagen hydrogels in confined compression was investigated using biphasic theory (J. Biomech. Eng. 102 (1980) 73), to ascertain whether the technique is sufficiently sensitive to determine differences in the characteristics of hydrogels of between 0.2% and 0.4% collagen. Peak stress, equilibrium stress, aggregate modulus and hydraulic permeability of the hydrogels exhibited sensitivity to collagen content, demonstrating that the technique is clearly able to discriminate between hydrogels with small differences in collagen content and may also be sensitive to factors that affect matrix remodelling. The results also offer additional insight into the deformation-dependent permeability of collagen hydrogels. This study suggests that confined compression, together with biphasic theory, is a suitable technique for assessing the mechanical properties of collagen hydrogels

Sensitivity analysis of permeability parameters of bovine nucleus pulposus obtained through inverse fitting of the nonlinear biphasic equation : effect of sampling strategy

Permeability controls the fluid flow into and out of soft tissue, and plays an important role in maintaining the health status of such tissue. Accurate determination of the parameters that define permeability is important for the interpretation of models that incorporate such processes. This paper describes the determination of strain-dependent permeability parameters from the nonlinear biphasic equation from experimental data of different sampling frequencies using the Nelder–Mead simplex method. The ability of this method to determine the global optimum was assessed by constructing the whole manifold arising from possible parameter combinations. Many parameter combinations yielded similar fits with the Nelder–Mead algorithm able to identify the global maximum within the resolution of the manifold. Furthermore, the sampling strategy affected the optimum values of the permeability parameters. Therefore, permeability parameter estimations arising from inverse methods should be utilised with the knowledge that they come with large confidence intervals

Quobba Point chalet development land capability study [and] Environmental consideration

The preferred area for development is the Old Stabilised Dune System. The Hind Dune Flat is a stable area but is limited in size. Other environmental and town planning considerations may militate against development of this area for Chalet Development

Thermal damage done to bone by burring and sawing with and without irrigation in knee arthroplasty

Heat from bone resecting tools used in knee surgery can induce thermal osteonecrosis, potentially causing aseptic implant loosening. This study compared oscillating saws to burrs in terms of temperature generation and histologic damage. Use of irrigation to reduce bone temperature was also investigated. Temperatures were recorded during sawing and burring with or without irrigation (uncooled or cooled). Histologic analyses were then carried out. Differences between groups were tested statistically (α = 0.05). On average, burring produced higher temperatures than sawing (P < .001). When uncooled irrigation was used, bone temperatures were significantly lower in sawed bone than in burred bone (P < .001). Irrigation lowered temperatures and thermal damage depths and increased osteocyte viability (P < .001). These results suggest that irrigating bone during resection could prevent osteonecrosis onset

Non-invasive computer-assisted measurement of knee alignment

The quantification of knee alignment is a routine part of orthopaedic practice and is important for monitoring disease progression, planning interventional strategies, and follow-up of patients. Currently available technologies such as radiographic measurements have a number of drawbacks. The aim of this study was to validate a potentially improved technique for measuring knee alignment under different conditions. An image-free navigation system was adapted for non-invasive use through the development of external infrared tracker mountings. Stability was assessed by comparing the variance (F-test) of repeated mechanical femoro-tibial (MFT) angle measurements for a volunteer and a leg model. MFT angles were then measured supine, standing and with varus-valgus stress in asymptomatic volunteers who each underwent two separate registrations and repeated measurements for each condition. The mean difference and 95% limits of agreement were used to assess intra-registration and inter-registration repeatability. For multiple registrations the range of measurements for the external mountings was 1° larger than for the rigid model with statistically similar variance (p=0.34). Thirty volunteers were assessed (19 males, 11 females) with a mean age of 41 years (range: 20-65) and a mean BMI of 26 (range: 19-34). For intra-registration repeatability, consecutive coronal alignment readings agreed to almost ±1°, with up to ±0.5° loss of repeatability for coronal alignment measured before and after stress maneuvers, and a ±0.2° loss following stance trials. Sagittal alignment measurements were less repeatable overall by an approximate factor of two. Inter-registration agreement limits for coronal and sagittal supine MFT angles were ±1.6° and ±2.3°, respectively. Varus and valgus stress measurements agreed to within ±1.3° and ±1.1°, respectively. Agreement limits for standing MFT angles were ±2.9° (coronal) and ±5.0° (sagittal), which may have reflected a variation in stance between measurements. The system provided repeatable, real-time measurements of coronal and sagittal knee alignment under a number of dynamic, real-time conditions, offering a potential alternative to radiographs

Delivery of an injectable biomaterial to the striatum- a computational analysis

The delivery of a cell-embedded hydrogel to the striatum is a promising strategy for Parkinson’s disease.In this study, a computational model of the intrastriatal injection was used to analyze the delivery process

Flow simulation of a natural polymer in a syringe-needle delivery device

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, affect a large num- ber of the erderly population and still remain untreated. In recent years, cell therapy has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy. To increase cell viability, biomaterials are of- ten used as scaffolds and facilitate cell deposition, through injection, to the site of interest. However, fluid forces acting on the cells during injection may lead to their disruption or death. This study aims to develop a novel device for the delivery of a cell-embedded, in situ forming, collagen hydrogel. A preliminary simulation study on constricted channels rep- resenting the syringe was performed to gain insight into the effect of needle diameter and syringe geometry. Straight needles emanating co-axially from syringes of various geome- tries were computationally modelled in the two-dimensional space, using OpenFOAMⓇ. The natural collagen solution was modelled as a continuum medium, without cells, and the flow was assumed incompressible, with non-Newtonian fluid constitutive behaviour. The effects of needle diameter and syringe geometry on velocity and shear stresses were examined. The results highlight the importance of geometric characteristics on the design of new cell delivery devices. If cells pass from the syringe barrel to the needle, the pressure drop and the increased velocity could damage them. This is more likely to occur using higher Gauge needles. Further analysis is required including simulations of cells during injection and analysis of their deformation

A role for topoisomerase IIα in the formation of radiation-induced chromatid breaks

Chromatid breaks in cells exposed to low dose irradiation are thought to be initiated by DNA double-strand breaks (DSB), and the frequency of chromatid breaks has been shown to increase in DSB rejoining deficient cells. However, the underlying causes of the wide variation in frequencies of G2 chromatid breaks (or chromatid ‘radiosensitivity') in irradiated T-lymphocytes from different normal individuals and cancer cases are as yet unclear. Here we report evidence that topoisomerase IIα expression level is a factor determining chromatid radiosensitivity. We have exposed the promyelocytic leukaemic cell line (HL60) and two derived variant cell lines (MX1 and MX2) that have acquired resistance to mitoxantrone and low expression of topoisomerase II α, to low doses of γ-radiation and scored the induced chromatid breaks. Chromatid break frequencies were found to be significantly lower in the variant cell lines, compared with their parental HL60 cell line. Rejoining of DSB in the variant cell lines was similar to that in the parental HL60 strain. Our results indicate the indirect involvement of topoisomerase IIα in the formation of radiation-induced chromatid breaks from DSB, and suggest topoisomerase IIα as a possible factor in the inter-individual variation in chromatid radiosensitivity

MEMS Piezoelectric Energy Harvester Powered Wireless Sensor Module Driven by Noisy Base Excitation

Despite recent advances in MEMS vibration energy harvesting and ultra-low power wireless sensors, designing a wireless sensor system entirely powered by a single MEMS device under noisy base excitation has remained a challenge. This paper presents a wireless sensor system co-integrated with a single MEMS piezoelectric vibration energy harvester chip excited by band-limited large amplitude noisy vibration characteristic of an automotive application. The use of soft stoppers in the MEMS package enables the harvesters to operate at an excitation level of 10 g(rms). A custom thick AlN (Aluminum Nitride) piezoelectric process is employed to fabricate the MEMS harvesters with a single MEMS chip generating 179 μW rectified power under these excitation conditions. A low-power wireless sensor module and a receiver module were also designed and demonstrated in this work. Experiments show that the wireless sensor module can be powered solely by the MEMS energy harvester commencing from the cold state. Successful wireless data transmission and receival of sensor data packets are recorded under representative conditions