This book presents a systematic overview of the most relevant nanomaterials and their respective intrinsic properties that have been highly explored by the scientific community and pharmaceutical companies in several different modalities for cancer therapy and bioimaging. The chapters explore the synergistic effects provided by the different nanostructured materials and highlight the main in vitro and in vivo therapeutic achievements on cancer. This work also provides relevant discussion about the recent progresses and future challenges that nanotechnology faces on the conception of more efficient nanoformulations against primary tumors, circulating cancer cells and metastases.

Mechanobiology in Health and Disease brings together contributions from leading biologists, clinicians, physicists and engineers in one convenient volume, providing a unified source of information for researchers in this highly multidisciplinary area. Opening chapters provide essential background information on cell mechanotransduction and essential mechanobiology methods and techniques. Other sections focus on the study of mechanobiology in healthy systems, including bone, tendons, muscles, blood vessels, the heart and the skin, as well as mechanobiology studies of pregnancy. Final chapters address the nascent area of mechanobiology in disease, from the study of bone conditions, skin diseases and heart diseases to cancer. A discussion of future perspectives for research completes each chapter in the volume. This is a timely resource for both early-career and established researchers working on mechanobiology.

Advanced Rehabilitative Technology: Neural Interfaces and Devices teaches readers how to acquire and process bio-signals using biosensors and acquisition devices, how to identify the human movement intention and decode the brain signal, how to design physiological and musculoskeletal models and establish the neural interfaces, and how to develop neural devices and control them efficiently using biological signals. The book takes a multidisciplinary theme between the engineering and medical field, including sections on neuromuscular/brain signal processing, human motion and intention recognition, biomechanics modelling and interfaces, and neural devices and control for rehabilitation. Each chapter goes through a detailed description of the bio-mechatronic systems used and then presents implementation and testing tactics. In addition, it details new neural interfaces and devices, some of which have never been published before in any journals or conferences. With this book, readers will quickly get up-to-speed on the most recent and future advancements in bio-mechatronics engineering for applications in rehabilitation.

The Use of Mass Spectrometry Technology (MALDI-TOF) in Clinical Microbiology presents the state-of the-art for MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. It is a key reference defining how MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry is used in clinical settings as a diagnostic tool of microbial identification and characterization that is based on the detection of a mass of molecules. The book provides updated applications of MALDI-TOF techniques in clinical microbiology, presenting the latest information available on a technology that is now used for rapid microbial identification at relatively low cost, thus offering an alternative to conventional laboratory diagnosis and proteomic identification systems. Although the main use of the technology has, until now, been identification or typing of bacteria from a positive culture, applications in the field of virology, mycology, microbacteriology and resistances are opening up new opportunities.

This book highlights treatment strategies for bacterial biofilms in connection with a variety of human diseases. In particular, it reviews bacterial biofilm formation and its mechanism. Topics covered include biofilms in human health, the role of biofilms in mediating human diseases, and methods for testing bacterial biofilms. Further sections concentrate on biofilm-mediated diseases in different parts of the human gastrointestinal tract, while therapeutic strategies for biofilm control and natural agents that disrupt bacterial biofilms are also covered. Readers will also find the latest advances in probiotics and biofilms, as well as the use of probiotics to counteract biofilm-associated infections. Biofilms and antimicrobial resistance are discussed. Subsequent chapters address the management of inflammatory bowel disease via probiotics biofilms, as well as the role of probiotics bacteria in the treatment of human diseases associated with bacterial biofilms. The book is chiefly intended for clinicians/scientists in the fields of medical microbiology, applied microbiology, biochemistry, and biotechnology.

Biomechanics of the Spine encompasses the basics of spine biomechanics, spinal tissues, spinal disorders and treatment methods. Organized into four parts, the first chapters explore the functional anatomy of the spine, with special emphasis on aspects which are biomechanically relevant and quite often neglected in clinical literature. The second part describes the mechanics of the individual spinal tissues, along with commonly used testing set-ups and the constitutive models used to represent them in mathematical studies. The third part covers in detail the current methods which are used in spine research: experimental testing, numerical simulation and in vivo studies (imaging and motion analysis). The last part covers the biomechanical aspects of spinal pathologies and their surgical treatment. This valuable reference is ideal for bioengineers who are involved in spine biomechanics, and spinal surgeons who are looking to broaden their biomechanical knowledge base. The contributors to this book are from the leading institutions in the world that are researching spine biomechanics.

This monograph sketches out a broad spectrum of problems (from evolution and metabolism to morphogenesis and biogeographical dynamics) whose solution has been impacted by mathematical models. Each of the selected examples has led to the recognition-and set direction to further study-of certain fundamental but unintuitive properties of biological systems, such as the making and breaking of specific symmetries that underlie morphogenesis. Whether they are long-established or only recently accepted, these models are selected for being thought-provoking and illuminating both the achievements and the gaps in our current understanding of the given area of biology. The selection of models is also meant to bring to the fore the existing degree of unity in the quantitative approach to diverse general-biological questions and in the systems-level properties that are discovered across the levels of biological organization. It is the thesis of this book that further cultivation of such unity is a way forward as we progress toward a general theory of living matter. This is an ideal book for students (in the broadest sense) of biology who wish to learn from this attempt to present the exemplary models, their methodological lessons, and the outline of a unified theory of living matter that is now beginning to emerge. In addition to a doctoral student preparing for quantitative biology research, this reader could also be an interdisciplinary scientist transitioning to biology. The latter-for example, a physicist or an engineer-may be comfortable with the mathematical apparatus and prepared to quickly enter the intended area of work, but desires a broader foundation in biology from the quantitative perspective.

This book provides an insightful guide to the design, testing and optimization of micro-electrode-dot-array (MEDA) digital microfluidic biochips. The authors focus on the characteristics specific for MEDA biochips, e.g., real-time sensing and advanced microfluidic operations like lamination mixing and droplet shape morphing. Readers will be enabled to enhance the automated design and use of MEDA and to develop a set of solutions to facilitate the full exploitation of design complexities that are possible with standard CMOS fabrication techniques. The book provides the first set of design automation and test techniques for MEDA biochips. The methods described in this book have been validated using fabricated MEDA biochips in the laboratory. Readers will benefit from an in-depth look at the MEDA platform and how to combine microfluidics with software, e.g., applying biomolecular protocols to software-controlled and cyberphysical microfluidic biochips.

Bioceramics: For Materials Science and Engineering provides a great working knowledge on the field of biomaterials, including the interaction of biomaterials with their biological surroundings. The book discussees the biomedical applications of materials, the standpoint of biomedical professionals, and a real-world assessment of the academic research in the field. It addresses the types of bioceramics currently available, their structure and fundamental properties, and their most important applications. Users will find this to be the only book to cover all these aspects.

The second edition of this easy-to-understand pocket guide remains an invaluable tool for students, assistant practitioners and radiographers. Providing an accessible introduction to the subject in a reader-friendly format, it includes diagrams and photographs to support the text. Each chapter provides clear learning objectives and a series of MCQs to test reader assimilation of the material. The book opens with overviews of image production, basic mathematics and imaging physics, followed by detailed chapters on the physics relevant to producing diagnostic images using X-rays and digital technologies. The content has been updated throughout and includes a new chapter on CT imaging and additional material on radioactivity, dosimetry, and imaging display and manipulation. Clark's Essential Physics in Imaging for Radiographers supports students in demonstrating an understanding of the fundamental definitions of physics applied to radiography ... all you need to know to pass your exams!

Features • Discusses novel methods of cancer diagnostics and cancer treatment. • Details non and minimally-invasive photonics techniques. • Explores the applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence to these novel techniques.

Improving the quality of life for the disabled and elderly is a pressing issue for today s European societies, as Europe, and industrialized countries worldwide, are confronted with a demographic shift. Researchers are looking toward Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) as the solution to this problem. Wireless Technologies for Ambient Assisted Living and Healthcare: Systems and Applications provides a compendium of terms, definitions, and explanations of concepts and processes within the area of AAL. It focuses on innovative wireless solutions for smart home environments, which will positively contribute to independent living and quality of life for disabled and elderly individuals, as they rely less on caretakers and more on technology. Other topics include information and communication technologies related to health, new developments in distributed applications and interoperable systems, applications and services, wireless technologies and architectures for health monitoring systems, and wireless communication and sensor networks in smart living space.

Bioinformatics Algorithms: Design and Implementation in Python provides a comprehensive book on many of the most important bioinformatics problems, putting forward the best algorithms and showing how to implement them. The book focuses on the use of the Python programming language and its algorithms, which is quickly becoming the most popular language in the bioinformatics field. Readers will find the tools they need to improve their knowledge and skills with regard to algorithm development and implementation, and will also uncover prototypes of bioinformatics applications that demonstrate the main principles underlying real world applications.

Applied Biomechatronics Using Mathematical Models provides an appropriate methodology to detect and measure diseases and injuries relating to human kinematics and kinetics. It features mathematical models that, when applied to engineering principles and techniques in the medical field, can be used in assistive devices that work with bodily signals. The use of data in the kinematics and kinetics analysis of the human body, including musculoskeletal kinetics and joints and their relationship to the central nervous system (CNS) is covered, helping users understand how the complex network of symbiotic systems in the skeletal and muscular system work together to allow movement controlled by the CNS. With the use of appropriate electronic sensors at specific areas connected to bio-instruments, we can obtain enough information to create a mathematical model for assistive devices by analyzing the kinematics and kinetics of the human body. The mathematical models developed in this book can provide more effective devices for use in aiding and improving the function of the body in relation to a variety of injuries and diseases.

"In an environment of intensifying global competition, deployment of technology is becoming the strategic battlefield of the international marketplace." —National Critical Technologies Panel.

Creating Technology Strategies prepares business and scientific leaders in the biomedical industries to battle for dominance in the global marketplace. It closes the gap between R&D scientists' and corporate executives' understanding of the relationship between R&D decisions and the achievement of business objectives. In doing so, the book creates a blueprint to guide the day-to-day and long-term allocation of science and technology resources and helps achieve a consistency among corporate, R&D, program, and project decisions.

Alice M. Sapienza, a scholar and strategic consultant to biomedical firms, explains the special issues of concern to these firms and some of the pressures on their leadership to invest in and manage R&D resources wisely. She provides a conceptual foundation for understanding the technology life cycle and supplies tools with which the leadership team can.

• Analyze the external environment and take advantage of the competitive situation
• Codify the firm's competitive position in terms of the technology it possesses
• Develop a strategic vision that encourages consistent R&D investments
• Determine the consequences of and requirements for changing the firm's competitive position
• Assess the fit of external knowledge sources (new recruits, acquired firms, etc.) with the biomedical firm
• Implement competitive technology strategy at program and project levels.

Supplemented with strategic investment assessment guidelines for both industry insiders and nonindustry venture capitalists, Creating Technology Strategies covers both macro and micro R&D issues. For R&D scientists, managers, and potential investors in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and diagnostic industries, this book provides much of the information needed to understand the complex and crucial issues of biomedical R&D strategy.

How to compete successfully in an industry unlike any other . . .

A direct relationship to public and personal health; a three-part consumer base consisting of medical professionals, third-party payers, and patients; a high level of government regulation; and the intensely emotional nature of many of the decisions that must be made—this combination of factors sets the biomedical industry apart from all others when it comes to determining R&D strategies. In this book, a leading industry consultant, Dr. Alice Sapienza, speaks directly to biomedical scientists, corporate strategists, and R&D managers. Dr. Sapienza sorts through the many complex issues that affect both business and R&D decisions and arrives at sensible conclusions that enable biomedical firms to maximize the effectiveness of R&D programs while strengthening their competitive position. The approaches developed in Creating Technology Strategies will be of particular interest to

• Members of the R&D leadership team, who must understand, design, and implement a technology strategy that supports the achievement of business goals.
• Corporate management, who must better understand the role of science and technology in the attainment of strategic objectives.
• R&D scientists, who must assess and manage programs and projects in ways that are consistent with corporate and technology strategies.
• Investors, who must analyze a biomedical firm's competitive position before committing their resources.

"Dr. Sapienza provides an extremely useful framework for R&D based companies to use in attempting to realign their business strategies. . . . [She] touches on many of the critical elements of the competitive technology environment. . . . [The book provides] a highly effective vehicle to allow groups of key decision makers . . . to understand the future of the research-based biomedical research industry for the 21st century." —Michael Williams, Ph.D., D.Sc., Vice President, Neuroscience Research, Abbott Laboratories

"[It] is well worth reading and thinking about. . . . includes several hypothetical cases . . . bringing to life some of the more difficult conceptual material. Dr. Sapienza brings an intimate knowledge . . . of technology and strategic issues facing the leadership of many knowledge-based organizations today." —Muzammil Mansuri, Ph.D., Vice President, MITOTIX.

"I am impressed . . . it presents a sophisticated, but realistic, approach to the problems facing the biopharmaceutical industry in defining and implementing a relevant business and research strategy. . . . Dr. Sapienza has caught the flavor excellently." —J.D. Fitzgerald, M.D., Materia Medica.

This book collects the proceedings of the International Congress on Health Sciences and Medical Technologies (ICHSMT), held in Tlemcen, Algeria, from December 5 to 7, 2019. The proceedings present a forum for the latest projects and research in scientific and technological development with an emphasis on smart healthcare system design and future technologies. ICHSMT brings together researchers, students, and professionals from the healthcare, corporate, and academic sectors. It includes a far-reaching program supported by a variety of technical tracks that seek to promote medical technologies and innovation at a nationwide level.

This book provides a comprehensive review of recent innovations in food science that are being used to tackle the challenges of food safety, nutritional security and sustainability. With a major focus on developing nations, like India, the book is divided into four main sections. The first section provides an overview of the food industry, while the second explores food safety in various segments, with an interesting account of street food safety - an important, yet often neglected aspect for safety parameters. The third section, on nutritional security and sustainability, explores various ways of maximizing nutrition and optimizing waste management in the food industry. The book closes with a section on emerging technologies and innovations, which introduces readers to some of the latest technologies in the food industry, including advances in food processing, packaging, nanotechnology, etc. The topics have been divided into 25 different chapters, which offer a diverse blend of perspectives on innovations in the developing world. Ideally suited for students and researchers in the food sciences, the book is also an interesting read for industry experts in Food Science and Technology.

This book reviews the potential of next-generation point-of-care diagnosis in healthcare. It also discusses the printed chip-based assay (Lab-on-a-Chip, Lab-on-a-PCB) for rapid, inexpensive biomarkers detection. The book presents the development of sensory systems based on the use of nanomaterials. It examines different biosensors for medical diagnosis using surface modification strategies of transducers. It presents electrochemical concepts based on different nanobiomaterials and nanocomposites for cancer theranostics. Notably, the book examines the recent advances in wearable, cost-effective hemodynamic sensors to detect diseases at an early stage. It further explores the combination of redox cycling and electrochemical detection to develop ultrasensitive and reproducible biosensors for point-of-care testing. Finally, the book summarizes the significant challenges in the point of care diagnostics and its future opportunities in healthcare.

Human Embryonic Stem Cells in Development, Volume 129, the latest release in the Current Topics in Developmental Biology series, highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on topics such as recapitulating pancreas development from human embryonic stem cells in a dish, modeling mammalian gastrulation with embryonic stem cells, and a section on what stem cells tell us about human germ cell biology. Each chapter is written by an international board of authors.

Medical Devices Quality Management Systems: Strategy and Techniques for Improving Efficiency and Effectiveness is written for the needs of quality, compliance, and regulatory professionals in medical device companies. It includes secrets for developing an effective, yet efficient, Quality Management System (QMS) and explains how to create a vision, strategy, and tactical plans. Author Manz shares lessons on leadership, key roles and responsibilities within a medical device company, while also exploring the concepts of process ownership, individual accountability, and how to cultivate a culture of quality and compliance. This book is useful for all executive, functional leaders, and organizations in the highly regulated medical device industry.

The processing of medical images in a reasonable timeframe and with high definition is very challenging. This volume helps to meet that challenge by presenting a thorough overview of medical imaging modalities, its processing, high-performance computing, and the need to embed parallelism in medical image processing techniques to achieve efficient and fast results. With contributions from researchers from prestigious laboratories and educational institutions, High-Performance Medical Image Processing provides important information on medical image processing techniques, parallel computing techniques, and embedding parallelism in different image processing techniques. A comprehensive review of parallel algorithms in medical image processing problems is a key feature of this book. The volume presents the relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest empirical research findings in the area and provides detailed descriptions about the diverse high-performance techniques. Topics discussed include parallel computing, multicore architectures and their applications in image processing, machine learning applications, conventional and advanced magnetic resonance imaging methods, hyperspectral image processing, algorithms for segmenting 2D slices for 3D viewing, and more. Case studies, such as on the detection of cancer tumors, expound on the information presented. Key features: Provides descriptions of different medical imaging modalities and their applications Discusses the basics and advanced aspects of parallel computing with different multicore architectures Expounds on the need for embedding data and task parallelism in different medical image processing techniques Presents helpful examples and case studies of the discussed methods This book will be valuable for professionals, researchers, and students working in the field of healthcare engineering, medical imaging technology, applications in machine and deep learning, and more. It is also appropriate for courses in computer engineering, biomedical engineering and electrical engineering based on artificial intelligence, parallel computing, high performance computing, and machine learning and its applications in medical imaging.

Clearly presents the state of the art and future trends in the research of the biodegradable polymers in the context of circular economy Covers entire value chain and life cycle of biopolymers, considering different types of polymers Clarifies the life safety of (bio)degradable polymeric materials Presents novel opportunities and ideas for developing or improving technologies Determines the course of degradation during prediction study

This book offers a timely review of modern technologies for health, with a special emphasis on wireless and wearable technologies, GIS tools and machine learning methods for managing the impacts of pandemics. It describes new strategies for forecasting evolution of pandemics, optimizing contract tracing, and for detection and diagnosis of diseases, among others. Written by researchers and professionals with different backgrounds, this book offers a extensive information and a source of inspiration for physiologists, engineers, IT scientists and policy makers in the health and technology sector.

Medical Innovation: Concept to Commercialization is a practical, step-by-step approach on how to move a novel concept through development to realize a commercially successful product. Real-world experience cases and knowledgeable contributors provide lessons that cover the practices of diverse organizations and multiple products. This important reference will help improve success and avoid innovation failure for translational researchers, entrepreneurs, medical school educators, biomedical engineering students and faculty, and aspiring physicians.