Islet-on-chip: promotion of islet health and function encapsulation within a polymerizable fibrillar collagen scaffold.

The protection and interrogation of pancreatic β-cell health and function is a fundamental aspect of diabetes research, including mechanistic studies, evaluation of β-cell health modulators, and development and quality control of replacement β-cell populations. However, present-day islet culture formats, including traditional suspension culture as well as many recently developed microfluidic devices, suspend islets in a liquid microenvironment, disrupting mechanochemical signaling normally found and limiting β-cell viability and function . Herein, we present a novel three-dimensional (3D) microphysiological system (MPS) to extend islet health and function by incorporating a polymerizable collagen scaffold to restore biophysical support and islet-collagen mechanobiological cues.

Computational mechanobiology model evaluating healing of postoperative cavities following breast-conserving surgery.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer type worldwide. Given high survivorship, increased focus has been placed on long-term treatment outcomes and patient quality of life. While breast-conserving surgery (BCS) is the preferred treatment strategy for early-stage breast cancer, anticipated healing and breast deformation (cosmetic) outcomes weigh heavily on surgeon and patient selection between BCS and more aggressive mastectomy procedures.

Development of electrochemical Zn sensors for rapid voltammetric detection of glucose-stimulated insulin release from pancreatic β-cells.

Diabetes is a chronic disease characterized by elevated blood glucose levels resulting from absent or ineffective insulin release from pancreatic β-cells. β-cell function is routinely assessed in vitro using static or dynamic glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) assays followed by insulin quantification via time-consuming, costly enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). In this study, we developed a highly sensitive electrochemical sensor for zinc (Zn), an ion co-released with insulin, as a rapid and low-cost method for measuring dynamic insulin release.

Computational Mechanobiology Model Evaluating Healing of Postoperative Cavities Following Breast-Conserving Surgery.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer type worldwide. Given high survivorship, increased focus has been placed on long-term treatment outcomes and patient quality of life. While breast-conserving surgery (BCS) is the preferred treatment strategy for early-stage breast cancer, anticipated healing and breast deformation (cosmetic) outcomes weigh heavily on surgeon and patient selection between BCS and more aggressive mastectomy procedures.