Utilisation of three-dimensional printed heart models for operative planning of complex congenital heart defects

Background and aim: To evaluate the accuracy of the three-dimensional (3D) printing of cardiovascular structures. To explore whether utilisation of 3D printed heart replicas can improve surgical and catheter interventional planning in patients with complex congenital heart defects. Methods: Between December 2014 and November 2015 we fabricated eight cardiovascular models based on computed tomography data in patients with complex spatial anatomical relationships of cardiovascular structures. A Bland-Altman analysis was used to assess the accuracy of 3D printing by comparing dimension measurements at analogous anatomical locations between the printed models and digital imagery data, as well as between printed models and in vivo surgical findings. The contribution of 3D printed heart models for perioperative planning improvement was evaluated in the four most representative patients. Results: Bland-Altman analysis confirmed the high accuracy of 3D cardiovascular printing. Each printed model offered an improved spatial anatomical orientation of cardiovascular structures. Conclusions: Current 3D printers can produce authentic copies of patients` cardiovascular systems from computed tomography data. The use of 3D printed models can facilitate surgical or catheter interventional procedures in patients with complex congenital heart defects due to better preoperative planning and intraoperative orientation

Study of calix[4]resorcinarene-dopamine complextion in mixed phospholipid monolayers formed at the air-water interface

We have studied the physical properties of monolayers formed by calix[4]resorcinarene and in mixtures with dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) in various molar ratios formed at the air-water interface and at presence of dopamine in water subphase by means of measurements of surface pressure and dipole potential. We showed that both calix[4]resorcinarene as well as its mixture with DPPC form stable monolayers at the water subphase. The presence of dopamine resulted in an increase of the mean molecular area and in a decrease of the compressibility modulus of the monolayers. For mixed monolayers at higher content of calix[4]resorcinarene (> 0.2 molar fraction) a deviation from ideal miscibility took place especially for monolayers in a solid state. This can be connected with formation of aggregates of calix[4] resorcinarene. Lowest miscibility and weakest interaction of dopamine with a monolayer was observed for calix[4]resorcinarene molar fraction of 0.33 in the monolayer. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Effect of Spacer Length on the Specificity of Counterion-Cationic Gemini Surfactant Interaction

Aqueous solutions of three dicationic quaternary N,N-dimethylammonium gemini surfactants with identical hydrocarbon tails (N-hexadecyl) separated by flexible two, four, and six carbon atom spacers (di-, tetra-, and hexamethylene), abbreviated as G2, G4, and G6, respectively, were characterized using dynamic light scattering (DLS), Langmuir balance, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and microscopy in the presence of varying concentrations of sodium salts of fluoride, chloride, bromide, and iodide. Clear dependence on the counterion species was evident in the surface activity of the geminis, as follows. In 0.1 mM salt minima in surface tension and hence presumably the highest affinity for G2, G4, and G6 were observed with fluoride/chloride, bromide, and iodide, respectively. This same ion specificity of G2, G4, and G6 was evident also in the changes of average hydrodynamic diameters (Zav) with temperature. More specifically, maximum in Zav for G2 was observed in 100 mM NaCl, for G4 in 100 mM NaBr, and for G6 in 1 mM NaI. Our results demonstrate that spacer length has a profound impact on the interaction of these surfactants with halide counter-ions of different sizes, controlling the organization of these cationic geminis in the presence of salt. Importantly, our studies show that adjusting the headgroup structure it is possible to design amphiphiles, which can be used to bind specific metal ions in solution, for purposes such as water purification and mineral enrichment

Membrane on a Chip: A Functional Tethered Lipid Bilayer Membrane on Silicon Oxide Surfaces

Tethered membranes have been proven during recent years to be a powerful and flexible biomimetic platform. We reported in a previous article on the design of a new architecture based on the self-assembly of a thiolipid on ultrasmooth gold substrates, which shows extremely good electrical sealing properties as well as functionality of a bilayer membrane. Here, we describe the synthesis of lipids for a more modular design and the adaptation of the linker part to silane chemistry. We were able to form a functional tethered bilayer lipid membrane with good electrical sealing properties covering a silicon oxide surface. We demonstrate the functional incorporation of the ion carrier valinomycin and of the ion channel gramicidin