Smart Catheters for Diagnosis, Monitoring, and Therapy (Adv. Healthcare Mater. 13/2026)

Advanced Healthcare Materials · 2026-04-01 · 1 citations

Leveraging H2O2 Levels for Biomedical Applications

UNC Libraries · 2026-04-03

Hydrogen peroxide (H₂ O₂ )-responsive materials have been employed as drug delivery or diagnostic systems to treat or detect diseases with abnormal oxidative stress. A number of H₂ O₂ -responsive systems have been developed, and they have achieved great progress in controlled drug delivery for disease treatment. However, pathological sites with elevated H₂ O₂ level, such as cancer and inflammation, have their own characteristics; therefore the material structures and the subsequent formulations should be reasonably designed to acquire maximized therapeutic effects. In this progress report, we overview the development of H₂ O₂ -responsive functional groups for constructing H₂ O₂ -responsive formulations, as well as the guidance for designing suitable formulations to treat each specific pathological condition. The challenges and perspectives in this field are also discussed.

Tissue clearing and three-dimensional imaging of the whole cochlea and vestibular system from multiple large-animal models

UNC Libraries · 2025-01-23

Smart Catheters for Diagnosis, Monitoring, and Therapy

Advanced Healthcare Materials · 2025-11-17

This review explores smart catheters as an emerging class of medical devices that combine embedded sensors, robotics, and communication systems with increasing functionality and complexity to enable real-time health monitoring, diagnostics, and treatment. Evolving from traditional catheters used as drains or entry ports, smart systems are now able to track blood pressure, temperature, biochemical signals, and mechanical forces within the body with a high degree of accuracy. Advances in materials, wireless communication, and robotic navigation have helped reduce common risks like infection and catheter blockage while also improving precision catheter placement for minimally invasive procedures. This review highlights recent developments across a variety of different types of smart catheters, ranging from sensing and imaging tools to therapeutic and multimodal systems. Additionally, it discusses the challenges that remain, including biocompatibility, long-term performance, and clinical translation. The incorporation of new capabilities is changing how catheters are used, and these new uses promise to enable more personalized and responsive healthcare.

Correction: Enhancing Student Engagement in the Graduate Seminar by Scaffolding Active Learning Activities

Biomedical Engineering Education · 2025-04-29

Advances in biosensors for diagnosis of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases

Biosensors and Bioelectronics · 2025-05-02 · 9 citations

Author Correction: Bioinstructive implantable scaffolds for rapid in vivo manufacture and release of CAR-T cells

Nature Biotechnology · 2025-02-03

Abstract B111: Mechanism-informed photochemical strategies to overcome fluid shear stress-induced platinum resistance in ovarian cancer

Cancer Research · 2024-03-04

Abstract Background: Over 75% of patients with disseminated ovarian cancer develop resistance to platinum-based chemotherapies (carboplatin or cisplatin). Patients with a high volume of malignant ascites or excessive fluid buildup in the peritoneum are more likely to present with primary platinum-resistant disease. It is hypothesized that the physical forces generated by ascites may contribute to the dissemination and progression of ovarian cancer. Our research group has shown that fluid shear stress (FSS) induces carboplatin resistance and a motile and aggressive phenotype in monolayer cultures and 3D models for adherent ovarian cancer. In this study, the effects of FSS on treatment response to cisplatin and doxorubicin were examined. The latter is used to manage recurrent platinum-resistant disease. Changes in mitochondrial function under FSS as they relate to platinum resistance were also characterized. Finally, the use of photodynamic therapy (PDT), which utilizes 690 nm light and a clinical photosensitizer benzoporphyrin derivative (BPD) to locally generate cytotoxic reactive molecular species as a means of overcoming FSS-induced platinum resistance, was explored. Methods: Human epithelial ovarian adenocarcinoma cells OVCAR-3 and Caov-3 (ATCC) were cultured in tissue culture plates (static culture) or chamber slides (ibidi) connected to a perfusion pump for 48 h (flow rate: 0.11 mL/min, shear stress: 0.41 dyn/cm2). Cells in static and flow cultures were exposed to cisplatin, doxorubicin, BPD-PDT or combinations thereof and survival fractions were measured 72 h post-treatment. Mitochondrial membrane potential was measured using JC-1 fluorescence assay, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number was quantified using qPCR. ATP content per cell was measured with a CellTiterGlo luminescence assay. Results: OVCAR-3 and Caov-3 cells grown under FSS developed significant resistance to cisplatin. Specifically, 3.13 µM cisplatin induced a 50% decrease in the survival fraction in OVCAR-3 static cultures but failed to decrease the survival fraction under flow. In contrast to these findings with platins, no resistance to doxorubicin was observed under flow. Evaluation of the mitochondrial function revealed increased ATP content and mtDNA copy number in flow cultures, suggesting that increased mitochondrial activity may contribute to platinum resistance. Finally, low-dose BPD-PDT (IC10, 0.15 J/cm2) enhanced the efficacy of cisplatin in OVCAR-3 cells under flow, indicating that PDT is a viable strategy to sensitize tumors exposed to FSS to platinum-based chemotherapy. Conclusions: Our data suggest that ovarian cancer cells that acquired resistance to platinum due to FSS remain sensitive to doxorubicin. Changes in mitochondrial function, including increased ATP content per cell and mtDNA copy number, have been identified as potential contributing factors to platinum resistance under FSS. Finally, low-dose BPD-PDT can be used to re-sensitize cells to cisplatin and overcome platinum resistance. Citation Format: Marta Overchuk, Brittany P. Rickard, Justin Tulino, Frances S. Ligler, Imran Rizvi. Mechanism-informed photochemical strategies to overcome fluid shear stress-induced platinum resistance in ovarian cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Ovarian Cancer; 2023 Oct 5-7; Boston, Massachusetts. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(5 Suppl_2):Abstract nr B111.

Enhancing Student Engagement in the Graduate Seminar by Scaffolding Active Learning Activities

Biomedical Engineering Education · 2024-05-03 · 1 citations

Advances in point-of-care optical biosensing for underserved populations

TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry · 2024-04-27 · 15 citations