This book reports on multidisciplinary research focusing on the analysis, synthesis and design of bionanomaterials. It merges the biophysicists', the biochemists' and bioengineers' perspectives, covering the study of the basic properties of materials and their interaction with biological systems, the development of new devices for medical purposes such as implantable systems, and new algorithms and methods for modeling the mechanical, physical or biological properties of biomaterials. The different chapters, which are based on selected contributions presented at the second edition of BIONAM, held on October 4-7, 2016, in Salerno, Italy, cover both basic and applied research. This includes novel synthetic strategies for nanomaterials, as well as the implementation of bio- and smart materials for pharmacological and medical purposes (e.g. drug delivery, implantable systems), environmental applications, and many others. The book provides a broad audience of academic and professionals with a comprehensive, timely snapshot of the field of biomaterials. Besides offering a set of innovative theories together with the necessary practical tools for their implementation, it also highlights current challenges in the field, thus fostering new discussions and possible future collaborations between groups with different backgrounds.

This volume describes the state-of-knowledge in the study of the relationships between mechanical loading states in tissues and common pathophysiologies related to increase in mass of adipose tissues and/or hyperglycemia which eventually lead to obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance, hyperlipidemia, metabolic inflammations, certain types of cancer and other related diseases. There appears to be an interaction between the loading states in tissues and cells and these chronic conditions, as well as with factors such as age, gender and genetics of the individual. Bioengineering has made key contributions to this research field in providing technologies for cell biomechanics experimentation, microscopy and image processing, tissue engineering and multi-scale, multi-physics computational modeling. Topics at the frontier of this field of study include: the continuous monitoring of cell growth, proliferation and differentiation in response to mechanical factors such as stiffness of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and mechanical loads transferred through the ECM; mechanically-activated signaling pathways and molecular mechanisms; effects of different loading regimes and mechanical environments on differentiation fates of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into myogenic and osteogenic versus adipogenic lineages; the interactions between nutrition and mechanotransduction; cell morphology, focal adhesion patterns and cytoskeletal remodeling changes in adipogenesis; activation of receptors related to diabetes by mechanical forces; brown and white adipose plasticity and its regulation by mechanical factors.

This book highlights recent advances in the field of biomaterials design and the state of the art in biomaterials applications for biomedicine. Addressing key aspects of biomaterials, the book explores technological advances at multi-scale levels (macro, micro, and nano), which are used in applications related to cell and tissue regeneration. The book also discusses the future scope of bio-integrated systems. The contents are supplemented by illustrated examples, and schematics of molecular and cellular interactions with biomaterials/scaffolds are included to promote a better understanding of the complex biological mechanisms involved in material-to-biomolecule interactions. The book also covers factors that govern cell growth, differentiation, and regeneration in connection with the treatment and recovery of native biological systems. Tissue engineering, drug screening and delivery, and electrolyte complexes for biomedical applications are also covered in detail. This book offers a comprehensive reference guide for multi-disciplinary communities working in the area of biomaterials, and will benefit researchers and graduate students alike.

This book describes the use of modern micro- and nanofabrication technologies to develop improved tools for stimulating and recording electrical activity in neuronal networks. It provides an overview of the different ways in which the "nano-world" can be beneficial for neuroscientists, including improvement of mechanical adhesion of cells on electrodes, tight-sealed extracellular recordings or intracellular approaches with strongly reduced invasiveness and tools for localized electrical or optical stimulation in optogenetics experiments. Specific discussion of fabrication strategies is included, to provide a comprehensive guide to develop micro and nanostructured tools for biological applications. A perspective on integrating these devices with state-of-the-art technologies for large-scale in vitro and in vivo experiments completes the picture of neuronal interfacing with micro- and nanostructures.

This book focuses on important interfacial phenomena, such as interfacial potential and interfacial multi-functionality, responsible for determining the fate of nanoparticles inside the biological milieu. Additionally, this book explores the role of surface defects in photocatalytic nanoparticles in defining the nanoparticle interaction to biological membrane and cytotoxic propensity.The authors describe the interfacial assembly of peptide/protein on conformational/functional dynamics of the peptide/protein, which may be adopted as an approach to moderate the protein misfolding diseases.

"Smart Hydrogel Functional Materials" comprehensively and systematically describes our current understanding of smart or intelligent hydrogel functional materials with environmental stimuli-responsive functions. The contents range from hydrogels (including hydrogel-functionalized membranes) to microgels (including hydrogel-functionalized microcapsules) with various response properties, such as thermo-response, pH-response, pH-/thermo-dual-response, glucose-response, ethanol-response, ion-recognition, molecular-recognition, and so on. Most of the contents in this book represent the fresh achievements of the authors' group on smart hydrogel functional materials. While all chapters can be read as stand-alone papers, together they clearly describe the design concepts, fabrication strategies and methods, microstructures and performances of smart hydrogel functional materials. Vivid schematics and illustrations throughout the book enhance the accessibility of the theory and technologies involved.

This is an ideal reference book for a broad general readership including chemists, materials researchers, chemical engineers, pharmaceutical scientists and biomedical researchers, who are interested in designing and fabricating smart hydrogel functional materials for various application purposes.

Dr. Liang-Yin Chu is a professor at the School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, China. He is a Distinguished Young Scholar of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and a Distinguished Professor of the "Chang Jiang Scholars Program" of the Ministry of Education of China.

This book presents advances in biomedical imaging analysis and processing techniques using time dependent medical image datasets for computer aided diagnosis. The analysis of time-series images is one of the most widely appearing problems in science, engineering, and business. In recent years this problem has gained importance due to the increasing availability of more sensitive sensors in science and engineering and due to the wide-spread use of computers in corporations which have increased the amount of time-series data collected by many magnitudes. An important feature of this book is the exploration of different approaches to handle and identify time dependent biomedical images. Biomedical imaging analysis and processing techniques deal with the interaction between all forms of radiation and biological molecules, cells or tissues, to visualize small particles and opaque objects, and to achieve the recognition of biomedical patterns. These are topics of great importance to biomedical science, biology, and medicine. Biomedical imaging analysis techniques can be applied in many different areas to solve existing problems. The various requirements arising from the process of resolving practical problems motivate and expedite the development of biomedical imaging analysis. This is a major reason for the fast growth of the discipline.

This handbook provides insights into becoming a better and more evolved athlete. It offers aspiring athletes, regardless of skill level, a better understanding of their bodies and how to unlock the unlimited potential of muscles without injury. It focuses on the "superhero" muscle: the iliopsoas, and also sheds light on Diamond-Corporation's new technology and elite athleticism, and how these can contribute to a healthier life. Lastly, the authors explore the mindset of success and provide exercises for remaining calm under pressure. This stand-alone book is the sequel to Paradigm Shift for Future Tennis and Enhancing Performance and Reducing Stress in Sport (2014, Springer). This book is written by scientists, whose expertise collectively spans the fields of biomechanics, clinical surgery, current and former elite athleticism, engineering and naturopath doctoral work. Together, they aim to inspire and educate athletes on how to improve their sports performance by using new technologies, world class biomechanics knowledge and ancient herbal medicines.

This book discusses the design of neural stimulator systems which are used for the treatment of a wide variety of brain disorders such as Parkinson's, depression and tinnitus. Whereas many existing books treating neural stimulation focus on one particular design aspect, such as the electrical design of the stimulator, this book uses a multidisciplinary approach: by combining the fields of neuroscience, electrophysiology and electrical engineering a thorough understanding of the complete neural stimulation chain is created (from the stimulation IC down to the neural cell). This multidisciplinary approach enables readers to gain new insights into stimulator design, while context is provided by presenting innovative design examples.

This volume focuses on latest research in therapeutic devices for cardiovascular, i.e. vascular and valvular and cardiac diseases. In the area of vascular therapies, aspects covered relate to latest research in small-diameter tissue-regenerative vascular grafts, one of the greatest persisting challenges in cardiovascular therapies, stent grafts and endovascular stents for percutaneous arterial interventions. Contributions on valvular therapies focus on tissue engineered and tissue regenerative prosthetic heart valves and valvular prostheses for trans-apical implantation including the challenges posed on the prosthesis design. The section on cardiac diseases aims at covering therapeutic advances for myocardial infarction and prevention of heart failure and on in vivo biomechanics of implantable cardiac pacemaker devices. A further section complements these three areas by presenting constitutive modelling of soft biological tissues of the cardiovascular system, an area imperative for advanced numerical and computational modelling in the development and optimisation of cardiovascular devices and therapies.

This book describes 200 bio-polymers, including the most recent and advanced nanotechnology applications. The applications of various bio-medical and other future potential uses are covered and examined in depth. Systematic discussion of current leading natural polymers is also included.

The NATO Advanced Study Institute "Biomedical Optical Instrumentation and Laser Assisted Biotechnology" was held November 10-22, 1995 in Erice, Sicily. This was the 19 th conference organized by the International School of Quantum Electronics, under the auspices of the "Ettore Majorana" Center for Scientific Culture. The contributions presented at the Institute are written as extended, review-like papers to provide a broad and representative coverage of the fields of laser techniques, optoelectronics systems for medical diagnosis, and light and laser applications to Biology and Medicine. The aim of the Institute was to bring together some of the world's acknowledged scientists and clinicians that belong to different disciplines and consequently do not usually meet, but who have as a common link the use of optoelectronics instrumentation, techniques and procedures. Most of the lecturers attended all the lectures and devoted their spare hours to stimulating discussions. We would like to thank them all for their admirable contributions. The Institute also took advantage of a very active audience; most of the participants were active researchers in the field and contributed with discussions and seminars. Some of these seminars are also included in these Proceedings. The Institute was an important opportunity to discuss latest developments and emerging perspectives on the use of laser sources and optoelectronic techniques for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes."

Nanobiotechnology is the convergence of existing and new biotechnology with the 1 ability to manipulate matter at or near the molecular level. This ability to manipulate matter on a scale of 100 nanometers (nm) or less is what constitutes the nanotechnology revolution occurring today, the potentially vast economic and social implications of which are yet to be fully understood (Royal Society, 2004). The most immediate way to understand the implications of nanobiotechnology for ethics is to consider the real life concerns of communities that are mobilizing within civil society. The conflicts and ethical debates surrounding nanotechnology will, almost by definition, emerge on the fault lines between different civil society actors, researchers and financial interests associated with nanobiotechnology, as well as (potentially) government regulators. These fault lines are all reflected within the concerns (as expressed d- cursively) of the communities mobilizing. This chapter will explore converging d- courses regarding converging technologies. Converging Technologies (CT) are already a familiar theme in the next gene- tion of biotechnology, nanotechnology, pharmacogenomics and proteomics research 2 and development. Nanobiotechnology means that previously separate disciplines (IT, physics, chemistry, and biology) are merging and converging to create new applications and even new life forms through converged technological platforms. Schummer (2004), and Glimell and Fogelberg (2003, p. 43), note the predominance of interdisciplinarity as a core theme of nano-discourse.

This book highlights the latest advances and trends in advanced signal processing (such as wavelet theory, time-frequency analysis, empirical mode decomposition, compressive sensing and sparse representation, and stochastic resonance) for structural health monitoring (SHM). Its primary focus is on the utilization of advanced signal processing techniques to help monitor the health status of critical structures and machines encountered in our daily lives: wind turbines, gas turbines, machine tools, etc. As such, it offers a key reference guide for researchers, graduate students, and industry professionals who work in the field of SHM.

Current Biomedical Databases are independently administered in geographically distinct locations, lending them almost ideally to adoption of intelligent data management approaches. This book focuses on research issues, problems and opportunities in Biomedical Data Infrastructure identifying new issues and directions for future research in Biomedical Data and Information Retrieval, Semantics in Biomedicine, and Biomedical Data Modeling and Analysis. The book will be a useful guide for researchers, practitioners, and graduate-level students interested in learning state-of-the-art development in biomedical data management.

Non-Newtonian properties on bubble dynamics and cavitation are fundamentally different from those of Newtonian fluids. The most significant effect arises from the dramatic increase in viscosity of polymer solutions in an extensional flow, such as that generated about a spherical bubble during its growth or collapse phase. In addition, many biological fluids, such as blood, synovial fluid, and saliva, have non-Newtonian properties and can display significant viscoelastic behaviour. This monograph elucidates general aspects of bubble dynamics and cavitation in non-Newtonian fluids and applies them to the fields of biomedicine and bioengineering. In addition it presents many examples from the process industries. The field is strongly interdisciplinary and the numerous disciplines involve have and will continue to overlook and reinvent each others' work. This book helps researchers to think intuitively about the diverse physics of these systems, to attempt to bridge the various communities involved, and to convey the interest, elegance, and variety of physical phenomena that manifest themselves on the micrometer and microsecond scales.

This book highlights recent research on metaheuristics for biomedical engineering, addressing both theoretical and applications aspects. Given the multidisciplinary nature of bio-medical image analysis, it has now become one of the most central topics in computer science, computer engineering and electrical and electronic engineering, and attracted the interest of many researchers. To deal with these problems, many traditional and recent methods, algorithms and techniques have been proposed. Among them, metaheuristics is the most common choice. This book provides essential content for senior and young researchers interested in methodologies for implementing metaheuristics to help solve biomedical engineering problems.

The book Handheld Total Chemical and Biological Analysis Systems: Bridging NMR, Digital Microfluidics, and Semiconductors centers on the complete design of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) microsystems for in vitro chemical and biological assays based on semiconductor chips and portable magnet. Different sensing mechanisms for CMOS in vitro assay are compared, key design criteria of the CMOS transceiver for NMR measurement are revealed, and system-level optimizations of the CMOS NMR platform utilizing digital microfluidic and diverse functions of the CMOS technology are discussed. Two CMOS NMR platforms are implemented, each of these focuses on different aspect of optimization.

This, the seventh volume in the New Clinical Applications Series, has an international flavour, with contributions from Australia (Mr N.e. Davis), Great Britain (Drs A.W. Macfarlane, N.C. Smith, M.F. Spittle, J.L.Verbov), and USA (Dr M.e. Finan and Professor R.K. Winkelmann). Dr Smith discusses some common skin tumours with his character istic informative clarity. It is appropriate that an authority such as Mr Davis should discuss a tumour that has a particularly high inci dence in his own country. Dr Spittle is a recognized authority on lymphomas and she writes succinctly on their management. Dr Finan and Professor Winkelmann have extensive experience of the rare condition, necrobiotic xanthogranuloma, and Drs Macfarlane and Verbov have been involved in the management of many patients with scleromyxoedema. I am very pleased to have had the opportunity of working with the contributors and thank them most sincerely for their efforts. I hope that this volume will interest dermatologists, oncologists, pathologists, radiotherapists and surgeons. JULIAN VERBOV ix ABOUT THE EDITOR Dr Julian Verbov is Consultant Dermatologist to Liverpool Health Authority and Clinical Lecturer in Dermatology at the University of Liverpool. He is a member of the British Association of Dermatologists, rep resenting the British Society for Paediatric Dermatology on its Executive Committee. He is a Committee Member of the North of England Dermatological Society, and Editor of its Proceedings."

Temporal Information Systems in Medicine introduces the engineering of information systems for medically-related problems and applications. The chapters are organized into four parts; fundamentals, temporal reasoning & maintenance in medicine, time in clinical tasks, and the display of time-oriented clinical information. The chapters are self-contained with pointers to other relevant chapters or sections in this book when necessary. Time is of central importance and is a key component of the engineering process for information systems. This book is designed as a secondary text or reference book for upper -undergraduate level students and graduate level students concentrating on computer science, biomedicine and engineering. Industry professionals and researchers working in health care management, information systems in medicine, medical informatics, database management and AI will also find this book a valuable asset.

Microfluidics and Microfabrication discusses the interconnect between microfluidics, microfabrication and the life sciences. Specifically, this includes fundamental aspects of fluid mechanics in micro-scale and nano-scale confinements and microfabrication. Material is also presented discussing micro-textured engineered surfaces, high-performance AFM probe-based, micro-grooving processes, fabrication with metals and polymers in bio-micromanipulation and microfluidic applications. Editor Suman Chakraborty brings together leading minds in both fields who also:

• Cover the fundamentals of microfluidics in a manner accessible to multi-disciplinary researchers, with a balance of mathematical details and physical principles
• Discuss the explicit interconnection between microfluiodics and microfabrication from an application perspective
• Detail the amalgamation of microfluidics with logic circuits and applications in micro-electronics

Microfluidics and Microfabrication is an ideal book for researchers, engineers and senior-level graduate students interested in learning more about the two fields.

This volume describes new frontiers in medical and service robotics in the light of recent developments in technology to advance robot design and implementation. In particular, the work looks at advances in design, development and implementation of contemporary surgical, rehabilitation and biorobots. Surgical robots allow surgeons greater access to areas under operation using more precise and less invasive methods. Rehabilitation robots facilitate and support the lives of the infirm, elderly people, or those with dysfunction of body parts affecting movement. These robots are also used for rehabilitation and related procedures, such as training and therapy. Biorobots are designed to imitate the cognition of humans and animals. The need to substitute humans working on delicate, tiresome and monotonous tasks, or working with potentially health-damaging toxic materials, requires intelligent, high-performance service robots with the ability to cooperate, advanced communication and sophisticated perception and cognitive capabilities. Progress in this field is fast and results need to be disseminated to stimulate both practical applications and further research. Thus, these papers are a valuable addition to existing literature.

The human hand and its dexterity in grasping and manipulating objects are some of the hallmarks of the human species. For years, anatomic and biomechanical studies have deepened the understanding of the human hand's functioning and, in parallel, the robotics community has been working on the design of robotic hands capable of manipulating objects with a performance similar to that of the human hand. However, although many researchers have partially studied various aspects, to date there has been no comprehensive characterization of the human hand's function for grasping and manipulation of everyday life objects. This monograph explores the hypothesis that the confluence of both scientific fields, the biomechanical study of the human hand and the analysis of robotic manipulation of objects, would greatly benefit and advance both disciplines through simulation. Therefore, in this book, the current knowledge of robotics and biomechanics guides the design and implementation of a simulation framework focused on manipulation interactions that allows the study of the grasp through simulation. As a result, a valuable framework for the study of the grasp, with relevant applications in several fields such as robotics, biomechanics, ergonomics, rehabilitation and medicine, has been made available to these communities.

The study of electromagnetic bioeffects is multidisciplinary; it draws heavily from the disciplines of physics, engineering, mathematics, biol ogy, chemistry, medicine, and environmental health. This book is about these disciplines and how they mutually integrate in the study of electromagnetic pathophysiology. Over aperiod of years, the authors have become increasingly aware of the difficulty in locating information concerning interaction of electro magnetic energy and biological tissues. There are numerous reports and publications, but no single comprehensive source in the American literature where such information is readily accessible. Regrettably, much of the importantinformation is contained in government documents and reports, some of which are inaccessible, or spread through many diverse journals, making retrieval and analysis of the material difficult. Although this book is primarily clinically oriented, it also focuses on those biophysical, biochemical, and fundamental molecular studies and findings that provide the basis for understanding the presence or absence of pathophysiological manifestations of exposure to radiofrequency, including microwave, energies. Detailed discussion and analysis of the relevant comprehensive physics, engineering, and biophysics are con tained in Chapters 2-5. Because the treatment is multidisciplinary, wherever possible analy sis is begun with basic background information that may appear elementary to some readers but is essential to understanding for those from a different discipline. Most confusion and controversies that exist in the field today arise from individuals of one discipline not appreciating basic facts or theories from another."