Engineering and women's health: a slow start, but gaining momentum

Grimm, Michele J.

doi:10.1098/rsfs.2019.0017

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…However, perturbations in mechanical cues could be involved in many disorders/diseases of the female reproductive tract, such as preterm birth, cervical incompetence, intrauterine growth restriction, endometriosis, adenomyosis, uterine fibroma, and genital prolapse. 5 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 10 , 169 , 170 Efforts to gain new insights into the mechanobiology of the female reproductive system will help us broaden our understanding of, and develop new strategies for, the treatment and/or prevention of these clinically important disorders/diseases in women (Figure 2 ). 5 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 10 , 168 , 169 …”

Section: Discussion—perspectives and Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 5 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 10 , 169 , 170 Efforts to gain new insights into the mechanobiology of the female reproductive system will help us broaden our understanding of, and develop new strategies for, the treatment and/or prevention of these clinically important disorders/diseases in women (Figure 2 ). 5 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 10 , 168 , 169 …”

Section: Discussion—perspectives and Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More studies are needed to understand the roles of forces and changes in the mechanical properties of female reproductive system physiology, and little is known about how mechanical perturbations result in the related disorders. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10] However, given the importance of mechanobiology in human biology and development, 2 the present review aimed to provide the current knowledge on mechanobiology of the female reproductive system. I focus on the early phases of reproduction from oocyte development to early embryonic development, with an emphasis on current progress.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Mechanobiology of the female reproductive system

Matsuzaki

2021

Reprod Medicine & Biology

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The field of mechanobiology focuses on how the responses of cells, tissues, and organs to mechanical cues, resulting from both intracellularly generated and externally generated forces, contribute to development, differentiation, physiology and disease via the integration of medicine, biology, engineering, and physics. [1][2][3] How living cells can sense their environment and adequately respond in terms of morphology, migration, proliferation, differentiation, and survival requires understanding at multiple scales, from molecules to single cells, tissues, and organs. [1][2][3] More than a century ago, mechanical forces were proposed to drive embryogenesis and bone structure. [1][2][3] The importance of mechanical forces for biological regulation was recognized in the field of developmental biology at the beginning of the twentieth century. [1][2][3] However, there were no experimental tools available to directly test

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Section: Discussion—perspectives and Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussion—perspectives and Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mechanobiology of the female reproductive system

Matsuzaki

2021

Reprod Medicine & Biology

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“…The first three contributions are review articles. The first presents the history and current contribution of engineering in women's health (Grimm [1]). The second reports the successes and failures of implanted medical devices to treat stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and to provide contraception (Powers et al [2]).…”

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confidence: 99%

Bioengineering in women's health: part I

2019

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This theme issue of Interface Focus is the first of two sets of articles on the topic of bioengineering in women's health. Although there is a long history of collaboration between engineers and medical professionals in orthopaedics and cardiovascular medicine, there has been growing interest in the last decade for interdisciplinary collaborations in other areas of medical science. This growth is particularly true in the case of women's health, a traditionally underserved area of research in the scientific community where fundamental knowledge of female physiology is still needed. Women's health is a broad category encompassing reproduction, fertility, maternal health, normal and abnormal pregnancy and the sequelae associated with a difficult childbirth. Women's health also includes sex-associated pathology associated with cancer, pain, cardiac disease, osteoporosis and other diseases. This list is not exhaustive with new scientific frontiers developing based on the evolving discourse of medicine for all. This first issue in the series focuses on bioengineering advances in the study of the non-pregnant woman, and the articles highlight important developments in pelvic floor disorders, biomedical devices, fertility, breast implant failure and breast cancer. The second issue in the series focuses on pregnancy.

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Supramolecular Fibrous Hydrogel Augmentation of Uterosacral Ligament Suspension for Treatment of Pelvic Organ Prolapse

Miller

Wolfe

Gentry

et al. 2023

Adv Healthcare Materials

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Uterosacral ligament suspension (USLS) is a common surgical treatment for pelvic organ prolapse (POP). However, the relatively high failure rate of up to 40% underscores a strong clinical need for complementary treatment strategies, such as biomaterial augmentation. Herein, the first hydrogel biomaterial augmentation of USLS in a recently established rat model is described using an injectable fibrous hydrogel composite. Supramolecularly‐assembled hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogel nanofibers encapsulated in a matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)‐degradable HA hydrogel create an injectable scaffold showing excellent biocompatibility and hemocompatibility. The hydrogel can be successfully delivered and localized to the suture sites of the USLS procedure, where it gradually degrades over six weeks. In situ mechanical testing 24 weeks post‐operative in the multiparous USLS rat model shows the ultimate load (load at failure) to be 1.70 ± 0.36 N for the intact uterosacral ligament (USL), 0.89 ± 0.28 N for the USLS repair, and 1.37 ± 0.31 N for the USLS + hydrogel (USLS+H) repair (n = 8). These results indicate that the hydrogel composite significantly improves load required for tissue failure compared to the standard USLS, even after the hydrogel degrades, and that this hydrogel‐based approach can potentially reduce the high failure rate associated with USLS procedures.

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Engineering and women's health: a slow start, but gaining momentum

Cited by 6 publications

References 75 publications

Mechanobiology of the female reproductive system

Mechanobiology of the female reproductive system

Bioengineering in women's health: part I

Supramolecular Fibrous Hydrogel Augmentation of Uterosacral Ligament Suspension for Treatment of Pelvic Organ Prolapse

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