Bioengineering Recent Developments

Bioengineering Recent Developments

• Bioengineering recent developments were presented with slides.
• Specifics focused on pacemaker technology and vaccine delivery.
• A department at FEU Institute of Technology created these slides.

Pacemaker Technology

• Objectives:
  • Discuss pacemaker history.
  • Discuss pacemaker function.
  • Explain recent pacemaker innovations.

The Heart

• Basic anatomy of the heart was displayed.
• Heart rate guidelines were included; rates for athletes and those with unhealthy habits were provided.
• Diagrams depicted the heart's electrical system, emphasizing nodes (sinus and atrioventricular) and Purkinje fibers.

Pacemaker History

• 1775: Danish physicist, Nickolve Abildgaard, observed electrical energy's effects on the body, culminating with reanimating a dead hen using chest electrodes.
• 1800-1802: Marie Francois Xavier Bichat and Nysten electrically stimulated the hearts of decapitated humans.
• 1855: Rudolph Alber von Kollicker discovered "action currents" in a frog's heart.
• 1872: Duchenne de Boulogne successfully resuscitated a drowned child using electrical stimulation.
• 1926: Mark Cowley Lidwill developed the concept of electrically pacing the heart.
• 1932: Albert Hyman built the first self-propelled hand-cranked artificial pacemaker, albeit unsuccessfully in many attempts.
• 1949-1950: Wilfred Bigelow and John Callaghan used hypothermia to allow cardiac surgery and discovered the re-warming challenges, eventually leading to more effective strategies. John Hopps advanced pacemaker technology.
• early 1950s: mains-powered portable pacemakers were introduced.
• Description of the first pacemaker prototype: 30 cm in length, vacuum tubes to generate pulses, powered by 60 hz household current, and transvenous catheter electrodes.
• Development of implantable pacemakers (1950s): use of Ni-Cd batteries, electronic circuits, coil recharging antenna, and encapsulation in Araldite epoxy resin (biocompatible). Early pacemakers measured 55mm in diameter and 16mm in thickness.
• 1958-2013: Progression of pacemaker technology with regards to weight and size; pacemaker miniaturization and improved materials and internal mechanisms occurred.

The 21st-Century Pacemaker

• Current pacemakers have pulse generators to regulate electrical pulse rates sent to electrodes.
• Leads deliver electrical pulses to adjust heart rate to 1 to 3 chambers.
• Pacemakers are smaller which includes a description of size and thickness, diagrams representing the pulse generator and leads.
• Pacemaker components contain titanium, nontoxic/inert materials, silicon semiconductors, metal alloys with polyurethane insulation, and appropriate safety measures for use inside the body.

Pacemaker Types

• Different types of pacemakers include single-chamber, dual-chamber, and biventricular models.
• Their functionalities are distinct, impacting how they control the heartbeat and manage heart failure.

Problems With Leads and Pockets

• Complications often arise from leads and pocket placement, such as infections and fibrous tissue formation.
• Risks include pneumothorax, lead fractures, lead thrombus formation, and stroke risks.

The Leadless Pacemaker

• The absence of leads reduces issues often associated with the leads in conventional pacemakers.
• This leadless model features minimal dimensions, an improved internal mechanism, and sophisticated materials, optimizing pacemaker functionality.

Evolution of Pacemaker Technology

• Descriptions of the progression, weight, and size changes from 1958 to 2013.

New Developments in Pacemaker Technology

• University of Texas at San Antonio engineers developed a new chip for low-power electronics.
• Improvements in battery life (increased longevity) were the outcome of the engineered chip.
• Rice University researchers built a leadless, wireless pacemaker.

Physical Models on Adaptive Heart Therapies

• Bath University in the UK developed physical models predicting neuron behavior to reverse heart failure.
• Their designs of pacemakers will potentially exhibit more accurate responses due to the mimicking of neurons.

Diamond Radio Receiver

• Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences created a design using pink diamonds offering atomic-scale radio receivers.
• The devices will potentially use radio waves to transmit electrical pulses that can empower/control pacemaker performance.
• The process also depends on green lasers to effectively guide the electrons.

Heart's Vibrational Energy

• University of Buffalo uses the heart's vibrations as a natural energy source to power pacemakers.
• Covert conversion of heart vibrations into electrical energy powers pacemakers.

Human Cells to Pacemaker Cells

• McEwen Center for Regenerative Medicine utilizes human pluripotent stem cells to establish pacemaker cells for effective electrical impulses.
• Biological pacemaker implants are developed in this area.
• Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute develops gene therapy converting a portion of a patient's heart cells into pacemaker cells, with genes delivered directly into the heart.

Vaccine Delivery

• Modern vaccine delivery involves mechanisms employing bioengineering and engineering principles.

• Recent vaccine development has focused on developing effective delivery systems.

• Objectives:

• Discuss vaccine mechanisms.

• Analyze bioengineering and engineering principles in vaccine research development.

• Vaccines function by training the body's immune system to fight pathogens it hasn't encountered before using antigens (pathogen molecules).

• Different vaccine types exist, including live attenuated, inactivated, subunit, and conjugate vaccines.

• Each type has unique mechanisms and advantages/disadvantages.

• Live attenuated vaccines use weakened forms of pathogens for exposure.

Biomimetic Micromotor Design

• Researchers developed a biomimetic micromotor for oral vaccine delivery using self-propelled motor toxoids.
• Oral deliveries to the intestinal linings are the preferred delivery method.
• The device’s design consists of a series of layers of magnesium microparticles coated with titanium-dioxide (TiO2), followed by coated toxin-containing RBC membrane, chitosan, and finally an enteric coating that can be dissolved.
• This method of delivery is designed so that the antigen payload or vaccine can be successfully delivered to the intestines.

Study Results

• The research on vaccine delivery demonstrated no effect on cell viability after three days.
• The active micro-reactor (motor toxoid) was highly present in the intestinal lining unlike other vaccine delivery systems that remain in the stomach.
• There was more anti-toxin titer produced, a greater order of magnitude in comparison to other typical vaccines.

Highlights of the Study

• Improved vaccine payload retention.
• Precise vaccine delivery to specific locations.
• Enhanced mucosal immunity response.
• Emphasis on antibodies responding in the mucous membrane versus blood circulation.

References

• Relevant publications and resources (multiple sources, not listed individually).