Hybrid piezoelectric and biodegradable polymer-based scaffolds for biomedical applications

The authors thanks to Mr. A. Anyugin and A. Zviagin for the assistance with experiments. The authors acknowledge the financial support from the Russian Science Foundation (project #18-73-10050)

GPU-accelerated ray-casting for 3D fiber orientation analysis

Orientation analysis of fibers is widely applied in the fields of medical, material and life sciences. The orientation information allows predicting properties and behavior of materials to validate and guide a fabrication process of materials with controlled fiber orientation. Meanwhile, development of detector systems for high-resolution non-invasive 3D imaging techniques led to a significant increase in the amount of generated data per a sample up to dozens of gigabytes. Though plenty of 3D orientation estimation algorithms were developed in recent years, neither of them can process large datasets in a reasonable amount of time. This fact complicates the further analysis and makes impossible fast feedback to adjust fabrication parameters. In this work, we present a new method for quantifying the 3D orientation of fibers. The GPU implementation of the proposed method surpasses another popular method for 3D orientation analysis regarding accuracy and speed. The validation of both methods was performed on a synthetic dataset with varying parameters of fibers. Moreover, the proposed method was applied to perform orientation analysis of scaffolds with different fibrous micro-architecture studied with the synchrotron μCT imaging setup. Each acquired dataset of size 600x600x450 voxels was analyzed in less 2 minutes using standard PC equipped with a single GPU

Magnetoelectric Effect: Principles and Applications in Biology and Medicine– a Review

Magnetoelectric (ME) effect experimentally discovered about 60 years ago remains one of the promising research fields with the main applications in microelectronics and sensors. However, its applications to biology and medicine are still in their infancy. For the diagnosis and treatment of diseases at the intracellular level, it is necessary to develop a maximally non-invasive way of local stimulation of individual neurons, navigation, and distribution of biomolecules in damaged cells with relatively high efficiency and adequate spatial and temporal resolution. Recently developed ME materials (composites), which combine elastically coupled piezoelectric (PE) and magnetostrictive (MS) phases, have been shown to yield very strong ME effects even at room temperature. This makes them a promising toolbox for solving many problems of modern medicine. The main ME materials, processing technologies, as well as most prospective biomedical applications will be overviewed, and modern trends in using ME materials for future therapies, wireless power transfer, and optogenetics will be considered. © 2021 The Author(s).This work was developed within the scope of the project CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, refs. UIDB/50011/2020 and UIDP/50011/2020, financed by national funds through the FCT/MCTES. Part of this work was funded by national funds (OE), through FCT – Fundaç~ao para a Ci^encia e a Tecnologia, I.P., in the scope of the framework contract foreseen in the numbers 4, 5, and 6 of the article 23, of the Decree-Law 57/2016, of August 29, changed by Law 57/2017, of July 19. The financial support from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation is acknowledged (grant agreements №075-15-2021-588 from 1.06.2021)

Poling and annealing of piezoelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride) micropillar arrays

R.S. acknowledges the financial support from the Russian Science Foundation (project #18-73-10050)

Effect of Fe3O4 Nanoparticles Modified by Citric and Oleic Acids on the Physicochemical and Magnetic Properties of Hybrid Electrospun P(VDF-TrFE) Scaffolds

This study considers a fabrication of magnetoactive scaffolds based on a copolymer of vinylidene fluoride and trifluoroethylene (P(VDF-TrFE)) and 5, 10, and 15 wt.% of magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles modified with citric (CA) and oleic (OA) acids by solution electrospinning. The synthesized Fe3O4-CA and Fe3O4-OA nanoparticles are similar in particle size and phase composition, but differ in zeta potential values and magnetic properties. Pure P(VDF-TrFE) scaffolds as well as composites with Fe3O4-CA and Fe3O4-OA nanoparticles demonstrate beads-free 1 μm fibers. According to scanning electron (SEM) and transmission electron (TEM) microscopy, fabricated P(VDF-TrFE) scaffolds filled with CA-modified Fe3O4 nanoparticles have a more homogeneous distribution of magnetic filler due to both the high stabilization ability of CA molecules and the affinity of Fe3O4-CA nanoparticles to the solvent used and P(VDF-TrFE) functional groups. The phase composition of pure and composite scaffolds includes a predominant piezoelectric β-phase, and a γ-phase, to a lesser extent. When adding Fe3O4-CA and Fe3O4-OA nanoparticles, there was no significant decrease in the degree of crystallinity of the P(VDF-TrFE), which, on the contrary, increased up to 76% in the case of composite scaffolds loaded with 15 wt.% of the magnetic fillers. Magnetic properties, mainly saturation magnetization (Ms), are in a good agreement with the content of Fe3O4 nanoparticles and show, among the known magnetoactive PVDF or P(VDF-TrFE) scaffolds, the highest Ms value, equal to 10.0 emu/g in the case of P(VDF-TrFE) composite with 15 wt.% of Fe3O4-CA nanoparticles. © 2023 by the authors.Russian Science Foundation, RSF: 22-73-00228This research was funded by the Russian Science Foundation, grant number 22-73-00228, https://rscf.ru/project/22-73-00228/

Study of thermal effects of silicate-containing hydroxyapatites

The possibility of modifications of hydroxyapatite silicate ions, from the extracellular fluid prototype solution under near-physiological conditions has been studied. Formation of silicon-structured hydroxyapatite with different extent of substitution of phosphate groups in the silicate group has been established through chemical and X-ray diffraction analyses, FTIR spectroscopy and optical microscopy. The results obtained are in agreement and suggest the possibility of substitution of phosphate groups for silicate groups in the hydroxyapatite structure when introducing different sources of silica, tetraethoxysilane and sodium silicate, in the reaction mixture. Growth in the amount of silicon in Si-HA results in the increase in the thermal stability of the samples. The greatest mass loss occurs at temperatures in the range of 25-400 °С that is caused by the removal of the crystallization and adsorption water and volatile impurities. It is shown that the modified apatites are of imperfect structure and crystallize in a nanocrystalline state

THE GROWTH OF MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS ON THE SURFACE OF MAGNETIC CONDUITS FOR NERVE TISSUE ENGINEERING IN AN ALTERNATING MAGNETIC FIELD

Novel magnetic nerve guidance conduits were fabricated by electrospinning. Physico-chemical and biological properties of the conduits were comprehensively investigated. The composite conduits were shown to support cell proliferation, and thereby are prospective for use in tissue engineering.Исследование выполнено при финансовой поддержке РНФ (проект № 20-63-47096). Выражаем благодарность кафедре биоинженерии МГУ им. М.В. Ломоносова под руководством А.П. Бонарцева за проведение клеточных исследований; Мухортовой Ю.Р. за помощь в синтезе магнетита и Парию И. за проведение измерений АСМ

Influence of Calcium-Phosphate Coating on Wettability of Hybrid Piezoelectric Scaffolds

Herein, electrospun biodegradable scaffolds based on polycaprolactone (PCL), poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and polyaniline (PANi) polymers were fabricated. A calcium-phosphate (CaP) coating was deposited on the surface of the scaffolds via an improved soaking process. Influence of the deposition cycles and ethanol concentration in the solution on the relative increase of the scaffolds weight and water contact angle (WCA) are determined. The characterization of the molecular and crystal structure confirmed the formation of CaP phase. Importantly, WCA results showed that the pristine scaffolds have the hydrophobic surface, while the deposition of CaP coating onto scaffolds allows to significantly improve the surface wetting behavior, and infiltration of the water droplets into the CaP-coated scaffolds was observed. Thus, the fabricated hybrid biodegradable piezoelectric scaffolds can be utilized for regenerative medicine