There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

http://nathan.instras.com/ResearchProposalDB/doc-109.pdf

A review on polymer nanofibers by electrospinning and their applications in nanocomposites

New generations of synthetic biomaterials are being developed at a rapid pace for use as three-dimensional extracellular microenvironments to mimic the regulatory characteristics of natural extracellular matrices (ECMs) and ECM-bound growth factors, both for therapeutic applications and basic biological studies. Recent advances include nanofibrillar networks formed by self-assembly of small building blocks, artificial ECM networks from protein polymers or peptide-conjugated synthetic polymers that present bioactive ligands and respond to cell-secreted signals to enable proteolytic remodeling. These materials have already found application in differentiating stem cells into neurons, repairing bone and inducing angiogenesis. Although modern synthetic biomaterials represent oversimplified mimics of natural ECMs lacking the essential natural temporal and spatial complexity, a growing symbiosis of materials engineering and cell biology may ultimately result in synthetic materials that contain the necessary signals to recapitulate developmental processes in tissue- and organ-specific differentiation and morphogenesis.

https://sisu.ut.ee/sites/default/files/quantum/files/synthetic_biomaterials_as_instructive_extracellular_microenvironments_for_morphogenesis_in_tissue_engineering_lutolf_m.p_hubbell_j.a_2005_0.pdf

Synthetic biomaterials as instructive extracellular microenvironments for morphogenesis in tissue engineering

Electrospinning: a fascinating fiber fabrication technique.

Electrospinning is a highly versatile method to process solutions or melts, mainly of polymers, into continuous fibers with diameters ranging from a few micrometers to a few nanometers. This technique is applicable to virtually every soluble or fusible polymer. The polymers can be chemically modified and can also be tailored with additives ranging from simple carbon-black particles to complex species such as enzymes, viruses, and bacteria. Electrospinning appears to be straightforward, but is a rather intricate process that depends on a multitude of molecular, process, and technical parameters. The method provides access to entirely new materials, which may have complex chemical structures. Electrospinning is not only a focus of intense academic investigation; the technique is already being applied in many technological areas.

Electrospinning: A Fascinating Method for the Preparation of Ultrathin Fibers

Electrospinning of collagen nanofibers.

Release of tetracycline hydrochloride from electrospun poly(ethylene-co-vinylacetate), poly(lactic acid), and a blend

Nanofiber technology: designing the next generation of tissue engineering scaffolds.

Antimineralization Treatment. Artificial Neural Networks: An Overview. Bioactive Materials and Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering. Biomaterials, Immune Response. Bioresorbable Polymers, An Overview. Cell-Material Interaction. Compression of Digital Biomedical Signals. Electromyography. Magnetic Resonance Microscopy. Melt Spinning. Polyamides (Synthetic and Natural). Repair and Regeneration of Peripheral Nerves: Historical Perspective. Sterilization of Biomedical Materials. Supercritical Fluid Processing. Ultrasonic Therapy, Bone Healing. Wear Debris, Bone Resorption Animal Models. Zirconia Ceramics.

Encyclopedia of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering

Significant challenges must be overcome before the true benefit and economic impact of vascular tissue engineering can be fully realized. Toward that end, we have pioneered the electrospinning of micro- and nano-fibrous scaffoldings from the natural polymers collagen and elastin and applied these to development of biomimicking vascular tissue engineered constructs. The vascular wall composition and structure is highly intricate and imparts unique biomechanical properties that challenge the development of a living tissue engineered vascular replacement that can withstand the high pressure and pulsatile environment of the bloodstream. The potential of the novel scaffold presented here for the development of a viable vascular prosthetic meets these stringent requirements in that it can replicate the complex architecture of the blood vessel wall. This replication potential creates an "ideal" environment for subsequent in vitro development of a vascular replacement. The research presented herein provides preliminary data toward the development of electrospun collagen and elastin tissue engineering scaffolds for the development of a three layer vascular construct.

Gary L. Bowlin

Papers

Electrospinning of collagen nanofibers.

Release of tetracycline hydrochloride from electrospun poly(ethylene-co-vinylacetate), poly(lactic acid), and a blend

Nanofiber technology: designing the next generation of tissue engineering scaffolds.

Encyclopedia of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering

Electrospinning collagen and elastin: preliminary vascular tissue engineering.