Question

Biomaterial Interface Question

List and briefly describe 5 design features you could incorporate in the design of a blood contacting biomaterial.

Select a tissue you would like to interface with. Based on the physiology of this tissue, what design features might your incorporate in this biomaterial? Be tissue specific in your design.

Answer 1

In tissue engineering Biomaterial are materials which have biological origin and can interact with other body tissues without having any toxic effect.Tissue Engineering is the branch of science which can fabricate the biological tissues or organs to replace the diseased or damaged tissues. Blood contacting biomaterial are those which can be used to replace damaged blood tissues. The five major design features that could be incorporated in the design of blood contacting biomaterials are:

1. Attachment of blood cells to biomaterial: Blood cells has a adherent property to surfaces.So the biomaterial should not support blood cell adhesion.The blood cell should keep migrating inside the lumen.

2. Adsorption of proteins: The biomaterial should have the ability to adsorb proteins.They should not activate or destroy the proteins and hinder the metabolic activity.

3.Thrombus and fibrin networks formation: The biomaterial should not cause any anti- inflammatory effect,otherwise anti coagulation factors will accumulate and will show adverse effect.

4. Shear force and pressure: The biomaterial should able to withstand the blood pressure and the shear force created by components of blood.

5. Immune rejection: The biomaterial should show hemocompatibility to avoid immune rejection by host body.

Skin tissue engineering has gained popularity in today's world.There is a lot of skin related diseases which at very adverse cases need skin regeneration. Based on the physiology of skin tissue the design features that can be incorporated in this biomaterial are:

1. The scaffold should be porous in nature so that the skin can perform respiration, transport of nutrients and metabolites.

2. The skin scaffold graft should be taken form the patient itself to reduce the risk of immune rejection.

3. All the layers of skin like epidermis,dermis and hypodermis (Multigradient-based scaffolds ) should be formed properly with the biomaterials .

4. The biomaterial should show wound healing activity so it should have the wound healing components.

5. The biomaterial most importantly should be able to withstand all outside and inside environmental stress because it is first line of defense.