This research investigates the environmental sustainability and biomedical applications of shape memory polymers (SMPs), focusing on their integration into 4D printing technologies. The objectives include comparing the carbon footprint, embodied energy, and water consumption of SMPs with traditional materials such as metals and conventional polymers and evaluating their potential in medical implants, drug delivery systems, and tissue engineering. The methodology involves a comprehensive literature review and AI-driven data analysis to provide robust, scalable insights into the environmental and functional performance of SMPs. Thermomechanical modeling, phase transformation kinetics, and heat transfer analyses are employed to understand the behavior of SMPs under various conditions. Significant findings reveal that SMPs exhibit considerably lower environmental impacts than traditional materials, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 40%, water consumption by 30%, and embodied energy by 25%. These polymers also demonstrate superior functionality and adaptability in biomedical applications due to their ability to change shape in response to external stimuli. The study concludes that SMPs are promising sustainable alternatives for biomedical applications, offering enhanced patient outcomes and reduced environmental footprints. Integrating SMPs into 4D printing technologies is poised to revolutionize healthcare manufacturing processes and product life cycles, promoting sustainable and efficient medical practices.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics9080490 | DOI Listing |
ACS Nano
January 2025
School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia.
Implantable systems with chronic stability, high sensing performance, and extensive spatial-temporal resolution are a growing focus for monitoring and treating several diseases such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, chronic pain, and cardiac arrhythmias. These systems demand exceptional bendability, scalable size, durable electrode materials, and well-encapsulated metal interconnects. However, existing chronic implantable bioelectronic systems largely rely on materials prone to corrosion in biofluids, such as silicon nanomembranes or metals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJAMA Netw Open
January 2025
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
Importance: Digital health in biomedical research and its expanding list of potential clinical applications are rapidly evolving. A combination of new digital health technologies (DHTs), novel uses of existing DHTs through artificial intelligence- and machine learning-based algorithms, and improved integration and analysis of data from multiple sources has enabled broader use and delivery of these tools for research and health care purposes. The aim of this study was to assess the growth and overall trajectory of DHT funding through a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-wide grant portfolio analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAging Dis
December 2024
Shandong Laboratory of Biomedical Materials Engineering, Success Bio-Tech Co., Ltd., Jinan, China.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common joint disease, which is mainly characterized by the degeneration of articular cartilage, inflammation of the synovial membrane of the joint, and changes in the surrounding bone tissue. With the increase of age and weight, the incidence of OA gradually increases, which seriously affects the quality of life of patients. The primary pharmacological treatments for OA include analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Mater Chem B
January 2025
Department of Laboratory Medicine/Clinical Laboratory Medicine Research Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China.
Natural enzymes are crucial in biological systems and widely used in biomedicine, but their disadvantages, such as insufficient stability and high cost, have limited their widespread application. Since discovering the enzyme-like activity of FeO nanoparticles, extensive research progress in diverse nanozymes has been made with their in-depth investigation, resulting in rapid development of related nanotechnologies. Nanozymes can compensate for the defects of natural enzymes and show higher stability with lower costs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiomater Sci
January 2025
Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Department of Physics, College of Physical Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
Nature-inspired superhydrophobic materials have attracted considerable interest in blood-contacting biomedical applications due to their remarkable water-repellent and self-cleaning properties. However, the interaction mechanism between blood components and superhydrophobic surfaces remains unclear. To explore the effect of trapped air on platelet adhesion, we designed four distinct hydrophobic titanium dioxide (TiO) nanostructures with different fractions of trapped air.
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