A BMP/activin A chimera is superior to native BMPs and induces bone repair in nonhuman primates when delivered in a composite matrix.

Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)/carriers approved for orthopedic procedures achieve efficacy superior or equivalent to autograft bone. However, required supraphysiological BMP concentrations have been associated with potential local and systemic adverse events. Suboptimal BMP/receptor binding and rapid BMP release from approved carriers may contribute to these outcomes.

Highly porous drug-eluting structures: from wound dressings to stents and scaffolds for tissue regeneration.

For many biomedical applications, there is need for porous implant materials. The current article focuses on a method for preparation of drug-eluting porous structures for various biomedical applications, based on freeze drying of inverted emulsions. This fabrication process enables the incorporation of any drug, to obtain an "active implant" that releases drugs to the surrounding tissue in a controlled desired manner.

Climate chamber for environmentally controlled laboratory airflow experiments.

Climate chambers have been widely used in in vitro and in vivo studies which require controlled environmental temperature and humidity conditions. This article describes a new desktop climate chamber that was developed for application of respiratory airflows on cultured nasal epithelial cells (NEC) under controlled temperature and humidity conditions. Flow experiments were performed by connecting the climate chamber to an airflow generator via a flow chamber with cultured NEC.

Drug-eluting medical implants.

Drug-eluting medical implants are actually active implants that induce healing effects, in addition to their regular task of support. This effect is achieved by controlled release of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) into the surrounding tissue. In this chapter we focus on three types of drug-eluting devices: drug-eluting vascular stents, drug-eluting wound dressings and protein-eluting scaffolds for tissue regeneration, thus describing both internal and external implants.

Highly porous bioresorbable scaffolds with controlled release of bioactive agents for tissue-regeneration applications.

Highly porous poly(DL-lactic-co-glycolic acid) films with controlled release of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as a model protein have been successfully developed and studied. These films, which are prepared by freeze-drying inverted emulsions, are designed for use in tissue-regeneration applications. The effects of the emulsion's formulation and host polymer's characteristics on the film's microstructure and HRP release profile over 4 weeks were investigated.

HRP-loaded bioresorbable microspheres: effect of copolymer composition and molecular weight on microstructure and release profile.

Poly(DL-lactic-co-glycolic acid) microspheres are prepared using a double-emulsion technique and are loaded with the model enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP). These microspheres can be used alone or as coatings for bioresorbable fibers that may be used as scaffolds for tissue regeneration applications. The present study focuses on the effect of the copolymer's composition and initial molecular weight on the microsphere structure, encapsulation efficiency, and cumulative protein release for 12 weeks.