A Soft Total Artificial Heart-First Concept Evaluation on a Hybrid Mock Circulation.

The technology of 3D-printing has allowed the production of entirely soft pumps with complex chamber geometries. We used this technique to develop a completely soft pneumatically driven total artificial heart from silicone elastomers and evaluated its performance on a hybrid mock circulation. The goal of this study is to present an innovative concept of a soft total artificial heart (sTAH).

In vivo risk evaluation of carbon-coated iron carbide nanoparticles based on short- and long-term exposure scenarios.

Background: While carbon-encapsulated iron carbide nanoparticles exhibit strong magnetic properties appealing for biomedical applications, potential side effects of such materials remain comparatively poorly understood. Here, we assess the effects of iron-based nanoparticles in an in vivo long-term study in mice with observation windows between 1 week and 1 year.

Materials & Methods: Functionalized (PEG or IgG) carbon-encapsulated platinum-spiked iron carbide nanoparticles were injected intravenously in mice (single or repeated dose administration).

Uptake of ferromagnetic carbon-encapsulated metal nanoparticles in endothelial cells: influence of shear stress and endothelial activation.

Aim: Magnetic field guided drug targeting holds promise for more effective cancer treatment. Intravascular application of magnetic nanoparticles, however, bears the risk of potentially important, yet poorly understood side effects, such as off-target accumulation in endothelial cells.

Materials & Methods: Here, we investigated the influence of shear stress (0-3.

Adsorption and separation of amyloid beta aggregates using ferromagnetic nanoparticles coated with charged polymer brushes.

Amyloid beta (Aβ) protein aggregates, which include fibrils and oligomers, are neurotoxic and are considered to cause Alzheimer's disease. Thus, separation of these Aβ aggregates from biological samples is important. Herein, we report the use of strongly ferromagnetic few-layer graphene-coated magnetic nanoparticles (C/Co), which were functionalized with a cationic polymer, poly[3-(methacryloyl amino)propyl]trimethylammonium chloride (polyMAPTAC), C/Co@polyMAPTAC, for the adsorption and magnetic separation of Aβ aggregates.

Template-particle stabilized bicontinuous emulsion yielding controlled assembly of hierarchical high-flux filtration membranes.

A novel solvent-evaporation-based process that exploits template-particle stabilized bicontinuous emulsions for the formation of previously unreached membrane morphologies is reported in this article. Porous membranes have a wide range of applications spanning from water filtration, pharmaceutical purification, and battery separators to scaffolds for tissue engineering. Different situations require different membrane morphologies including various pore sizes and pore gradients.

Characterization of carbon-coated magnetic nanoparticles using clinical blood coagulation assays: effect of PEG-functionalization and comparison to silica nanoparticles.

Intravascular application of magnetic nanocarriers is a critical step in the development of new therapeutic strategies, including magnetic drug targeting or hyperthermia. However, injection of particulate matter bears the intrinsic risk of contact activation of the blood coagulation cascade. In this work, we use point-of-care assays to study coagulation dynamics and clotting parameters in blood samples exposed to relevant concentrations of surface-functionalized carbon-coated iron carbide nanomagnets using unmodified nanomagnets and poly(ethylene)glycol-functionalized nanomagnets with different end-groups, including -OCH, -NH, -COOH, -IgG, and -ProteinA-protected-IgG (-IgG-ProtA).

Rapid surface-biostructure interaction analysis using strong metal-based nanomagnets.

Nanomaterials are increasingly suggested for the selective adsorption and extraction of complex compounds in biomedicine. Binding of the latter requires specific surface modifications of the nanostructures. However, even complicated macromolecules such as proteins can afford affinities toward basic surface characteristics such as hydrophobicity, topology, and electrostatic charge.

Nanomagnet-based removal of lead and digoxin from living rats.

In a number of clinical conditions such as intoxication, bacteraemia or autoimmune diseases the removal of the disease-causing factor from blood would be the most direct cure. However, physicochemical characteristics of the target compounds limit the applicability of classical filtration and diffusion-based processes. In this work, we present a first in vivo magnetic blood purification rodent animal model and demonstrate its ability to rapidly clear toxins from blood circulation using two model toxins with stable plasma levels (lead (Pb(2+)) and digoxin).

Endotoxin removal by magnetic separation-based blood purification.

This work describes a magnetic separation-based approach using polymyxin B-functionalized metal alloy nanomagnets for the rapid elimination of endotoxins from human blood in vitro and functional assays to evaluate the biological relevance of the blood purification process. Playing a central role in gram-negative sepsis, bacteria-derived endotoxins are attractive therapeutic targets. However, both direct endotoxin detection in and removal from protein-rich fluids remains challenging.

Effects of flame made zinc oxide particles in human lung cells - a comparison of aerosol and suspension exposures.

Background: Predominantly, studies of nanoparticle (NPs) toxicology in vitro are based upon the exposure of submerged cell cultures to particle suspensions. Such an approach however, does not reflect particle inhalation. As a more realistic simulation of such a scenario, efforts were made towards direct delivery of aerosols to air-liquid-interface cultivated cell cultures by the use of aerosol exposure systems.

Electrical resistivity of assembled transparent inorganic oxide nanoparticle thin layers: influence of silica, insulating impurities, and surfactant layer thickness.

The electrical properties of transparent, conductive layers prepared from nanoparticle dispersions of doped oxides are highly sensitive to impurities. Production of cost-effective thin conducting films for consumer electronics often employs wet processing such as spin and/or dip coating of surfactant-stabilized nanoparticle dispersions. This inherently results in entrainment of organic and inorganic impurities into the conducting layer leading to largely varying electrical conductivity.

Physical defect formation in few layer graphene-like carbon on metals: influence of temperature, acidity, and chemical functionalization.

A systematical examination of the chemical stability of cobalt metal nanomagnets with a graphene-like carbon coating is used to study the otherwise rather elusive formation of nanometer-sized physical defects in few layer graphene as a result of acid treatments. We therefore first exposed the core-shell nanomaterial to well-controlled solutions of altering acidity and temperature. The release of cobalt into these solutions over time offered a simple tool to monitor the progress of particle degradation.