We have previously presented a MEMS viscometric sensor for continuous glucose monitoring using protein Concanavalin A (Con A). To address its drawbacks including immunotoxicity and instability issues, we have synthesized stable, biocompatible copolymers poly(acrylamide-ran-3-acrylamidophenylboronic acid) (PAA-ran-PAAPBA) for viscosity based glucose sensing. We found that PAA-ran-PAAPBA showed very high binding specificity to glucose. Several key factors such as polymer compositions, polymer molecular weights and polymer concentrations have been investigated to optimize viscometric responses. This polymer is able to detect glucose under physiological conditions in a reversible manner. Therefore, it has the potential to enable the highly reliable, continuous monitoring of glucose in subcutaneous tissue using the MEMS device.

Atherosclerosis is primarily responsible for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in millions of patients every year. Drug-coated balloons (DCBs) are commonly used to treat various CVDs. However, in several currently used DCBs, a significant amount of drug is lost in the blood stream during balloon tracking to deliver only a sub-therapeutic level of drug at the treatment site. In this study, paclitaxel containing polyethylene oxide (PEO) films were developed to provide unique advantages including drug release profiles specifically tailored for balloon-based therapy, homogeneous films with molecularly dispersed drug, flexible and ductile films, and exhibits significant inhibitory effect on smooth muscle cell growth. Thus, this study demonstrated the use of PEO as an alternate drug delivery platform for DCBs to improve its efficacy.

In this study, the effect of different structures (flat, expanded, and electrospun) of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) on the interactions of endothelial cells (ECs), smooth muscle cells (SMCs), and platelets was investigated. In addition, the mechanisms that govern the interactions between ECs, SMCs, and platelets with different structures of PTFE were discussed. The surface characterizations showed that the different structures of PTFE have the same surface chemistry, similar surface wettability and zeta potential, but uniquely different surface topography. The viability, proliferation, morphology, and phenotype of ECs and SMCs interacted with different structures of PTFE were investigated. Expanded PTFE (ePTFE) provided a relatively better surface for the growth of ECs. In case of SMC interactions, although all the different structures of PTFE inhibited SMC growth, a maximum inhibitory effect was observed for ePTFE. In case of platelet interactions, the electrospun PTFE provided a better surface for preventing the adhesion and activation of platelets. Thus, this study demonstrated that the responses of ECs, SMCs, and platelets strongly dependent on the surface topography of the PTFE. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 104A: 2291-2304, 2016.

The surface topography of a biomaterial plays a vital role in determining macrophage interactions and influencing immune response. In this study, we investigated the effect of smooth and microrough topographies of commonly used metallic biomaterials such as 316 L stainless steel (SS) and cobalt-chromium (CoCr) alloys on macrophage interactions. The macrophage adhesion was greater on CoCr compared to SS, irrespective of their topographies. The macrophage activation and the secretion of most pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, and IP-10) were greater on microrough surfaces than on smooth surfaces by day-1. However, by day-2, the macrophage activation on smooth surfaces was also significantly increased up to the same level as observed on the microrough surfaces, with more amount of cytokines secreted. The secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10) was significantly increased from day-1 to day-2 on all the alloy surfaces with the effect most prominently observed on microrough surfaces. The production of nitric oxide by the macrophages did not show any major substrate-dependent effect. The foreign body giant cells formed by macrophages were least observed on the microrough surfaces of CoCr. Thus, this study demonstrated that the nature of material (SS or CoCr) and their surface topographies (smooth or microrough) strongly influence the macrophage responses. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 104A: 2658-2672, 2016.