The book reports on advanced topics in interactive robotics research and practice; in particular, it addresses non-technical obstacles to the broadest uptake of these technologies. It focuses on new technologies that can physically and cognitively interact with humans, including neural interfaces, soft wearable robots, and sensor and actuator technologies; further, it discusses important regulatory challenges, including but not limited to business models, standardization, education and ethical-legal-socioeconomic issues. Gathering the outcomes of the 1st INBOTS Conference (INBOTS2018), held on October 16-20, 2018 in Pisa, Italy, the book addresses the needs of a broad audience of academics and professionals working in government and industry, as well as end users. In addition to providing readers with detailed information and a source of inspiration for new projects and collaborations, it discusses representative case studies highlighting practical challenges in the implementation of interactive robots in a number of fields, as well as solutions to improve communication between different stakeholders. By merging engineering, medical, ethical and political perspectives, the book offers a multidisciplinary, timely snapshot of interactive robotics.

This issue of Dental Clinics of North America focuses on Dental Materials, and is edited by Drs. Jack Ferracane, Luiz E. Bertassoni, and Carmem S. Pfeifer. Articles will include: Tooth: Its structure and properties; Dental light curing; Bioactive dental materials having remineralizing or antimicrobial characteristics; Materials for regenerating dental pulp and soft tissues; Dental adhesives; Polymer-based direct filling materials; Dental impression materials and techniques; Dental ceramics for restoration and metal-veneering; Dental cements for luting and bonding restorations; Bone augmentation materials; Dental implants, and more!

The Internet and other technological developments are now playing increasing roles in the management of knowledge within consumer health behavior and the delivery of health services. Biomedical Knowledge Management: Infrastructures and Processes for E-Health Systems provides multidisciplinary best practices and experiences in knowledge management relevant to the healthcare industry. A useful reference for field researchers, academicians, and healthcare practitioners, this Handbook of Research presents an in-depth examination of common approaches to shared problems in the management of knowledge within e-health services.

This book showcases new and innovative approaches to biometric data capture and analysis, focusing especially on those that are characterized by non-intrusiveness, reliable prediction algorithms, and high user acceptance. It comprises the peer-reviewed papers from the international workshop on the subject that was held in Ancona, Italy, in October 2014 and featured sessions on ICT for health care, biometric data in automotive and home applications, embedded systems for biometric data analysis, biometric data analysis: EMG and ECG, and ICT for gait analysis. The background to the book is the challenge posed by the prevention and treatment of common, widespread chronic diseases in modern, aging societies. Capture of biometric data is a cornerstone for any analysis and treatment strategy. The latest advances in sensor technology allow accurate data measurement in a non-intrusive way, and in many cases it is necessary to provide online monitoring and real-time data capturing to support a patient's prevention plans or to allow medical professionals to access the patient's current status. This book will be of value to all with an interest in this expanding field.

This book introduces readers to the latest exciting advances in human motion sensing and recognition, from the theoretical development of fuzzy approaches to their applications. The topics covered include human motion recognition in 2D and 3D, hand motion analysis with contact sensors, and vision-based view-invariant motion recognition, especially from the perspective of Fuzzy Qualitative techniques. With the rapid development of technologies in microelectronics, computers, networks, and robotics over the last decade, increasing attention has been focused on human motion sensing and recognition in many emerging and active disciplines where human motions need to be automatically tracked, analyzed or understood, such as smart surveillance, intelligent human-computer interaction, robot motion learning, and interactive gaming. Current challenges mainly stem from the dynamic environment, data multi-modality, uncertain sensory information, and real-time issues. These techniques are shown to effectively address the above challenges by bridging the gap between symbolic cognitive functions and numerical sensing & control tasks in intelligent systems. The book not only serves as a valuable reference source for researchers and professionals in the fields of computer vision and robotics, but will also benefit practitioners and graduates/postgraduates seeking advanced information on fuzzy techniques and their applications in motion analysis.

Biomaterials for Oral and Dental Tissue Engineering examines the combined impact of materials, advanced techniques and applications of engineered oral tissues. With a strong focus on hard and soft intraoral tissues, the book looks at how biomaterials can be manipulated and engineered to create functional oral tissue for use in restorative dentistry, periodontics, endodontics and prosthodontics. Covering the current knowledge of material production, evaluation, challenges, applications and future trends, this book is a valuable resource for materials scientists and researchers in academia and industry. The first set of chapters reviews a wide range of biomaterial classes for oral tissue engineering. Further topics include material characterization, modification, biocompatibility and biotoxicity. Part Two reviews strategies for biomaterial scaffold design, while chapters in parts three and four review soft and hard tissues.

Atherosclerotic Plaque Characterization Methods Based on Coronary Imaging provides a complete review of computer methods for atherosclerotic plaque reconstruction and characterization. The authors, with their expertise from biomedical engineering, computer science, and cardiology, offer a holistic view. The focus of the book is on the presentation of major imaging techniques, including their limitations. It includes details on the mechanical characterization and properties of plaques and appropriate constitutive models to describe the mechanical behavior of plaques. The authors explore the challenges of using multiple coronary imaging technologies, and provide the pros and cons of invasive vs. non-invasive techniques. Methods for plaque characterization and 3D reconstruction of coronary arteries using IVUS, OCT, and CT images are described. This book will help readers study new trends in image processing analysis and plaque characterization, implement automated plaque characterization methodologies, understand coronary imaging drawbacks, and comprehend 3 dimensional coronary artery and plaque reconstruction methods.

This book marries stem cell biology, tissue engineering, and regenerative biology into a single, interdisciplinary volume. The chapters also explore embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, cardiovascular regeneration, skeletal development, inflammation, polymeric biomaterials, neural injury, cartilage regeneration, regeneration in ambystoma, models for regeneration using salamander and zebrafish, and more. The volume also discusses recent advances and their potential in developing future therapies. Innovations in Molecular Mechanisms and Tissue Engineering combines perspectives from the biomedical, bioengineering, and medical fields to present a cutting-edge, multifaceted picture of the tissue engineering and regenerative medicine fields. This installment of Springer's Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine series is ideal for scientists, clinicians, and researchers in the fields of stem cell biology, regenerative medicine, biomedical engineering, and tissue engineering.

This book discusses recent advances in hydrogels, including their generation and applications and presents a compendium of fundamental concepts. It highlights the most important hydrogel materials, including physical hydrogels, chemical hydrogels, and nanohydrogels and explores the development of hydrogel-based novel materials that respond to external stimuli, such as temperature, pressure, pH, light, biochemicals or magnetism, which represent a new class of intelligent materials. With their multiple cooperative functions, hydrogel-based materials exhibit different potential applications ranging from biomedical engineering to water purification systems. This book covers key topics including superabsorbent polymer hydrogel; intelligent hydrogels for drug delivery; hydrogels from catechol-conjugated materials; nanomaterials loaded hydrogel; electrospinning of hydrogels; biopolymers-based hydrogels; injectable hydrogels; interpenetrating-polymer-network hydrogels: radiation- and sonochemical synthesis of micro/nano/macroscopic hydrogels; DNA-based hydrogels; and multifunctional applications of hydrogels. It will prove a valuable resource for researchers working in industry and academia alike.

This book explains the anatomy and physiology of cartilage tissue in an integrated way. The emphasis is on how cartilage tissue functions and maintains homeostasis in a challenging mechanical environment. Supported by hundreds of references, the book posts new hypotheses explaining how cartilage adapts and achieves homeostasis in vivo, and tests them against available data. This exploratory approach creates a sense of discovery that the reader can join, or perhaps test themselves through their own research. The main benefit will be obtained by research students and professors looking to understand the deeper concepts that will further their own research, or clinicians (including health professionals and surgeons) who want to gain a deeper physiological understanding of cartilage tissue, which can then serve as a basis for more rational clinical decision-making they need to make on a daily basis. To help bridge the gap between basic science and clinically relevant joint disease, applications and interpretations of key physiological concepts are discussed in the context of osteoarthritis at the end of most chapters.

This volume is about ultra high-speed cameras, which enable us to see what we normally do not see. These are objects that are moving very fast, or that we just ignore. Ultra high-speed cameras invite us to a wonderland of microseconds. There Alice (the reader) meets a ultra high-speed rabbit (this volume) and travels together through this wonderland from the year 1887 to 2017. They go to the horse riding ground and see how a horse gallops. The rabbit takes her to a showroom where various cameras and illumination devices are presented. Then, he sends Alice into semiconductor labyrinths, wind tunnels, mechanical processing factories, and dangerous explosive fields. Sometimes Alice is large, and at other times she is very small. She sits even inside a car engine. She falls down together with a droplet. She enters a microbubble, is thrown out with a jet stream, and finds herself in a human body. Waking up from her dream, she sees children playing a game: "I see what you do not see, and this is....". Alice thinks: "The ultra high-speed rabbit showed me many things which I had never seen. Now I will go again to this wonderland, and try to find something new.

Characterization of Polymeric Biomaterials presents a comprehensive introduction on the topic before discussing the morphology and surface characterization of biomedical polymers. The structural, mechanical, and biological characterization is described in detail, followed by invaluable case studies of polymer biomaterial implants. With comprehensive coverage of both theoretical and experimental information, this title will provide scientists with an essential guide on the topic of these materials which are regularly used for clinical applications, such as implants and drug delivery devices. However, a range of novel polymers and the development and modification of existing medical polymers means that there is an ongoing need to satisfy particular design requirements. This book explains the critical and fundamentals methods to characterize polymer materials for biomedical applications.

This book discusses the latest developments of the synthesis, preparation, characterization, and applications of nano/microstructure-based materials in biomedical and energetic fields. It introduces several popular approaches to fabricating these materials, including template-assisted fabrication, electrospinning of organic/inorganic hybrid materials, biomineralization-mediated self-assembly, etc. The latest results in material evaluation for targeted applications are also presented. In particular, the book highlights the latest advances and future challenges in polymer nanodielectrics for energy storage applications. As such, it offers a valuable reference guide for scholars interested in the synthesis and evaluation of nano/microstructure-based materials, as well as their biomedical and energetic applications. It also provides essential insights for graduate students and scientists pursuing research in the broad fields of composite materials, polymers, organic/inorganic hybrid materials, nano-assembly, etc.

Trauma Plating Systems is the first reference and systematic book in the topic of trauma plating system in view of biomechanical, material, biological, and clinical aspects. The effects of these aspects on effectiveness of trauma plating fixation are deeply reviewed, discussed, and challenged from which promising evaluation and development concepts are explored. This book is divided into five sections: Section I covers general concepts of biomechanical, material, biological, and clinical aspects. Then it provides fundamentals of trauma plating systems, principles of biomechanical evaluation methods, and biomechanics of plating fixation in Section II. Section III reviews current metallic materials with their advantages and disadvantages in plating fixation of bone fractures and new promising materials with their potential benefits to enhance the effectiveness of plating fixation. Section IV represents currently concerned biomechanical-clinical challenges of plating fixation for various bone fractures, and Section V presents current and new development concepts of this type of trauma implants. This book as an accessible and easy usable textbook for various disciplines of audiences who are dealing with trauma plating system and fixation such as orthopedic surgeons, trauma implant manufacturers, biomechanical researchers, biomaterial researchers, and all biomedical or medical students and residents in different levels of education. Author has been diligent in both engineering and research environments in terms of research, testing, analysis, validation, verification, clinical studies, and technical writing. His main interest and effort is to integrate biomechanical, material, biological, and clinical requirements of orthopedic implants for creation of novel design conception in this industry. He has developed the website http://orthoimplant-development.com/ for further communication in development of orthopedic implants.

Nanostructures for Novel Therapy: Synthesis, Characterization and Applications focuses on the fabrication and characterization of therapeutic nanostructures, in particular, synthesis, design, and in vitro and in vivo therapeutic evaluation. The chapters provide a cogent overview of recent therapeutic applications of nanostructured materials that includes applications of nanostructured materials for wound healing in plastic surgery and stem cell therapy. The book explores the promise for more effective therapy through the use of nanostructured materials, while also assessing the challenges their use might pose from both an economic and medicinal point of view. This innovative look at how nanostructured materials are used in therapeutics will be of great benefit to researchers, providing a greater understanding of the different ways nanomaterials could improve medical treatment, along with a discussion of the obstacles that need to be overcome in order to guarantee widespread availability.

This book is the first to focus specifically on cancer nanotheranostics. Each of the chapters that make up this comprehensive volume is authored by a researcher, clinician, or regulatory agency member known for their expertise in this field. Theranostics, the technology to simultaneously diagnose and treat a disease, is a nascent field that is growing rapidly in this era of personalized medicine. As the need for cost-effective disease diagnosis grows, drug delivery systems that can act as multifunctional carriers for imaging contrast and therapy agents could provide unique breakthroughs in oncology. Nanotechnology has enabled the development of smart theranostic platforms that can concurrently diagnose disease, start primary treatment, monitor response and initiate secondary treatments if required. In oncology, chemotherapeutics have been routinely used. Some drugs have proven effective but all carry risks of adverse side effects. There is growing interest in using remotely triggered drug delivery systems to limit cytotoxicity in the diseased area. This book reviews the use of theranostic nanoparticles for cancer applications over the past decade. First, it briefly discusses the challenges and limitations of conventional cancer treatments, and presents an overview of the use of nanotechnology in treating cancer. These introductory chapters are followed by those exploring cancer diagnosis and a myriad of delivery methods for nanotherapeutics. The book also addresses multifunctional platforms, treatment monitoring, and regulatory considerations. As a whole, the book aims to briefly summarize the development and clinical potential of various nanotheranostics for cancer applications, and to delineate the challenges that must be overcome for successful clinical development and implementation of such cancer theranostics.

This invaluable resource discusses clinical applications with effects and side-effects of applications of stem cells in liver, lung and heart regeneration. All chapters are contributed by pre-eminent scientists in the field and covers such topics as cell therapy in the treatment of cirrhosis and other liver, heart and lung diseases, characteristics of hepatic progenitor cells, future directions of the discussed therapies and much more. Liver, Lung and Heart Regeneration and the other books in the Stem Cells in Clinical Applications series will be invaluable to scientists, researchers, advanced students and clinicians working in stem cells, regenerative medicine or tissue engineering.

This book analyzes several compliant contact force models within the context of multibody dynamics, while also revisiting the main issues associated with fundamental contact mechanics. In particular, it presents various contact force models, from linear to nonlinear, from purely elastic to dissipative, and describes their parameters. Addressing the different numerical methods and algorithms for contact problems in multibody systems, the book describes the gross motion of multibody systems by using a two-dimensional formulation based on the absolute coordinates and employs different contact models to represent contact-impact events. Results for selected planar multibody mechanical systems are presented and utilized to discuss the main assumptions and procedures adopted throughout this work. The material provided here indicates that the prediction of the dynamic behavior of mechanical systems involving contact-impact strongly depends on the choice of contact force model. In short, the book provides a comprehensive resource for the multibody dynamics community and beyond on modeling contact forces and the dynamics of mechanical systems undergoing contact-impact events.

This book provides an introduction to the biological background of heart functioning and analyzes the various materials and technologies used for the development of microfluidic systems dedicated to cell culture, with an emphasis on cardiac cells. The authors describe the characterization of microfluidic systems for cardiac cell culture and center their discussion of the use of stem cell stimulation based on four different types: electrical, biochemical, physical, and mechanical. This book is appropriate for researchers focused on on-chip technologies and heart studies, students in bioengineering and microengineering courses, and a variety of professionals, such as biotechnologists, biomedical engineers, and clinicians working in the cardiac diseases field.

This book describes the development of three dimensional electroactive fibres using a novel coaxial wet-spinning approach from organic conductors in combination with non-conducting hydrogel polymers. This book also presents the characterization and evaluation of multiaxial biofibres in terms of mechanical, physical, electrochemical and biological properties, and explores their use in a diverse range of applications including implantable electrodes, drug delivery systems and energy-storage systems. In the first chapter, the author highlights the significance of engineering three dimensional fibres, introduces the involved hydrogels and organic conductors with emphasis on their biomedical application, and collects some of the previously established methods for fabrication of biofibres. In the second chapter, particular attention is given to the overall experimental fabrication methods and characterization analyses conducted in the work. Chapters three to five present the main findings of this work, in which readers will discover how novel hybrid hydrogel fibres with an inner core of chitosan and alginate were prepared and characterized, how graphene was incorporated into coaxial wet-spun biofibres, and how one-dimensional triaxial fibres were developed using a novel coaxial wet-spinning fibre production method and applied as potential battery devices. In the final chapter of this work, the author summarizes the main achievements of the work and outlines some recommendations for future research.

This invaluable resource discusses clinical applications with effects and side-effects of applications of stem cells in diabetes, kidney and wound treatment. All chapters are contributed by pre-eminent scientists in the field and covers such topics as stem cells and cell therapy in the treatment of diabetes mellitus, kidney failure, wound and other skin aging diseases, characteristics of some kinds of stem/progenitor cells for therapy, future directions of the discussed therapies and much more. Pancreas, Kidney and Skin Regeneration and the other books in the Stem Cells in Clinical Applications series will be invaluable to scientists, researchers, advanced students and clinicians working in stem cells, regenerative medicine or tissue engineering.

This book describes efforts to improve subject-independent automated classification techniques using a better feature extraction method and a more efficient model of classification. It evaluates three popular saliency criteria for feature selection, showing that they share common limitations, including time-consuming and subjective manual de-facto standard practice, and that existing automated efforts have been predominantly used for subject dependent setting. It then proposes a novel approach for anomaly detection, demonstrating its effectiveness and accuracy for automated classification of biomedical data, and arguing its applicability to a wider range of unsupervised machine learning applications in subject-independent settings.

Focussing on the key technologies in developing robots for a wide range of medical rehabilitation activities - which will include robotics basics, modelling and control, biomechanics modelling, rehabilitation strategies, robot assistance, clinical setup/implementation as well as neural and muscular interfaces for rehabilitation robot control - this book is split into two parts; a review of the current state of the art, and recent advances in robotics for medical rehabilitation. Both parts will include five sections for the five key areas in rehabilitation robotics: (i) the upper limb; (ii) lower limb for gait rehabilitation (iii) hand, finger and wrist; (iv) ankle for strains and sprains; and (v) the use of EEG and EMG to create interfaces between the neurological and muscular functions of the patients and the rehabilitation robots. Each chapter provides a description of the design of the device, the control system used, and the implementation and testing to show how it fulfils the needs of that specific area of rehabilitation. The book will detail new devices, some of which have never been published before in any journal or conference.

Biomechanical engineering is involved with creating and producing a variety of products in everyday use, from environmentally safe plastics to various foods, fabrics, and medicines. A combination of engineering and biology, it is a fast-growing field with many new and exciting opportunities in genetic engineering and biotechnology. However, research surrounding biomechanical applications is scattered and often restricted, leading to the need for a comprehensive publication of the recent advances and developments in this emerging field. Design, Development, and Optimization of Bio-Mechatronic Engineering Products provides pivotal research on the application of combining mechanical engineering with human biological systems in order to develop bio-mechatronic products like pacemakers, artificial kidney replacements, artificial hearts, and new joints or limbs to better and more accurately monitor and advance human health. While highlighting topics such as orthotic devices, inter-electrode gap, and biomaterial applications, this publication explores producing artificial material to work in sync with the human body. This book is ideally designed for engineers, health professionals, technology developers, researchers, academicians, and students.

This book focuses on the mechanobiological principles in tissue engineering with a particular emphasis on the multiscale aspects of the translation of mechanical forces from bioreactors down to the cellular level. The book contributes to a better understanding of the design and use of bioreactors for tissue engineering and the use of mechanical loading to optimize in vitro cell culture conditions. It covers experimental and computational approaches and the combination of both to show the benefits that computational modelling can bring to experimentalists when studying in vitro cell culture within a scaffold. With topics from multidisciplinary fields of the life sciences, medicine, and engineering, this work provides a novel approach to the use of engineering tools for the optimization of biological processes and its application to regenerative medicine. The volume is a valuable resource for researchers and graduate students studying mechanobiology and tissue engineering. For undergraduate students it also provides deep insight into tissue engineering and its use in the design of bioreactors. The book is supplemented with extensive references for all chapters to help the reader to progress through the study of each topic.