Antithrombogenic polysaccharide coatings to improve hemocompatibility, protein-repellence, and endothelial cell response.

Polyester biomaterials play a crucial in vascular surgery, but suffer from unspecific protein adsorption, thrombogenicity, and inadequate endothelial cell response, which limit their success. To address these issues, we investigated the functionalization of polyester biomaterials with antithrombogenic polysaccharide coatings. A two-step and water-based method was used to coat cationized polycaprolactone with different sulfated polysaccharides (SPS), which resulted in long-term stability, tunable morphology, roughness, film thickness, chemical compositions, zeta potential, and water content.

Few-Cycle Surface Plasmon Polaritons.

Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) can confine and guide light in nanometer volumes and are ideal tools for achieving electric field enhancement and the construction of nanophotonic circuitry. The realization of the highest field strengths and fastest switching requires confinement also in the temporal domain. Here, we demonstrate a tapered plasmonic waveguide with an optimized grating structure that supports few-cycle surface plasmon polaritons with >70 THz bandwidth while achieving >50% light-field-to-plasmon coupling efficiency.

3D-Printed Collagen-Nanocellulose Hybrid Bioscaffolds with Tailored Properties for Tissue Engineering Applications.

Hybrid collagen (Coll) bioscaffolds have emerged as a promising solution for tissue engineering (TE) and regenerative medicine. These innovative bioscaffolds combine the beneficial properties of Coll, an important structural protein of the extracellular matrix, with various other biomaterials to create platforms for long-term cell growth and tissue formation. The integration or cross-linking of Coll with other biomaterials increases mechanical strength and stability and introduces tailored biochemical and physical factors that mimic the natural tissue microenvironment.

4-Axis 3D-Printed Tubular Biomaterials Imitating the Anisotropic Nanofiber Orientation of Porcine Aortae.

Many of the peculiar properties of the vasculature are related to the arrangement of anisotropic proteinaceous fibers in vessel walls. Understanding and imitating these arrangements can potentially lead to new therapies for cardiovascular diseases. These can be pre-surgical planning, for which patient-specific ex vivo anatomical models for endograft testing are of interest.