Bioprinting: an assessment based on manufacturing readiness levels.

Over the last decade, bioprinting has emerged as a promising technology in the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. With recent advances in additive manufacturing, bioprinting is poised to provide patient-specific therapies and new approaches for tissue and organ studies, drug discoveries and even food manufacturing. Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) is a method that has been applied to assess manufacturing maturity and to identify risks and gaps in technology-manufacturing transitions.

Interdigitated silver-polymer-based antibacterial surface system activated by oligodynamic iontophoresis - an empirical characterization study.

There is a pressing need to control the occurrences of nosocomial infections due to their detrimental effects on patient well-being and the rising treatment costs. To prevent the contact transmission of such infections via health-critical surfaces, a prophylactic surface system that consists of an interdigitated array of oppositely charged silver electrodes with polymer separations and utilizes oligodynamic iontophoresis has been recently developed. This paper presents a systematic study that empirically characterizes the effects of the surface system parameters on its antibacterial efficacy, and validates the system's effectiveness.

Nanomaterials and synergistic low-intensity direct current (LIDC) stimulation technology for orthopedic implantable medical devices.

Nanomaterials play a significant role in biomedical research and applications because of their unique biological, mechanical, and electrical properties. In recent years, they have been utilized to improve the functionality and reliability of a wide range of implantable medical devices ranging from well-established orthopedic residual hardware devices (e.g.

Micro-scale fabrication and characterization of a silver-polymer-based electrically activated antibacterial surface.

This paper reports the fabrication methodology and characterization results for an electrically activated silver-polymer-based antibacterial surface with primary applications in preventing indirect contact transmission of infections. The surface consists of a micro-scale grating pattern of alternate silver electrodes and SU-8 partitions with a minimum feature size of 20 µm, and activated by an external voltage. In this study, prototype coupons (15 mm × 15 mm) of the antibacterial surface were fabricated on silicon substrates using two sets of lithographies, and analyzed for their physical characteristics using microscopy and surface profilometry.

Developing an engineered antimicrobial/prophylactic system using electrically activated bactericidal metals.

The increased use of Residual Hardware Devices (RHDs) in medicine combined with antimicrobial resistant-bacteria make it critical to reduce the number of RHD associated osteomyelitic infections. This paper proposes a surface treatment based on ionic emission to create an antibiotic environment that can significantly reduce RHD associated infections. The Kirby-Bauer agar gel diffusion technique was adopted to examine the antimicrobial efficacy of eight metals and their ionic forms against seven microbes commonly associated with osteomyelitis.