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Bio-Inspired and Biomimetic Materials for Healthcare: From Nature to Clinics

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomaterials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 October 2023) | Viewed by 9170

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Christophe Drouet

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Guest Editor

CIRIMAT, University of Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse INP, 31000 Toulouse, France
Interests: bioceramics; bioactive compounds; cold sintering; surface engineering; bone regeneration; nanomedicine; smart colloidal nanoparticles/hybrids
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Karim El-Kirat

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Guest Editor

Biomechanics and Bioengineering, CNRS UMR 7338, University of Technology of Compiègne, Compiègne, France
Interests: nanobioengineering; nanobiomechanics; biomineralization; biomimicry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over millions of years, Nature has learned to develop a wealth of materials and strategies to fulfill the necessary functions of living organisms and allow their evolution for ever-optimized capabilities. From ancient civilizations to the present day, many attempts have been made to repair and treat the human body using Nature as a source of inspiration. Wood, nacre, jade, gold, leather, iron, ivory and other natural resources have provided the raw components for the setup of prosthetic devices with the view to systematically optimize their functional properties in vivo. The technological developments that have occurred in the last several decades have allowed a tremendous expansion of bio-inspired and biomimetic compounds and approaches for use in medicine, not only for skeletal repair (bones, teeth, joints, etc.) but also in other domains such as medical devices for dermatology, oncology, hematology, medical imaging, gene transfection, etc. Additionally, the exploration of 2D features and 3D-architectured systems present in nature as in bone, nacre, etc. have inspired researchers in their quest for bioactive or tissue-mimicking surfaces and scaffolds, including via bio-printing. It is also possible to try to exploit natural biological/biochemical pathways in response to implanted materials as in the setup of “smart” antimicrobial biomaterials responsive to specific stimuli (local pH, enzymatic activity, ROS, etc.), allowing controlled dug release, as an example. Other inspiring domains may relate to self-assembly and hierarchically organized functional hybrids to fulfill tasks at different scales.

This Special Issue covers the whole spectrum of bio-inspired and biomimetic materials for use in the biomedical field. It envisions to gather, in a single open-access Special Issue, the state-of-the-art on Nature-inspired biomaterials and medical devices and related strategies for use in today’s and tomorrow’s medicine. This also involves modeling and artificial intelligence approaches for a better understanding of natural physiological pathways and their transposition to systems ultimately usable in clinics.

Considering your expertise in the domain, it is our pleasure to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue. Full papers, short communications, and reviews would be greatly appreciated.

Dr. Christophe Drouet
Dr. Karim El-Kirat
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

smart biomaterials
bio-inspired medical devices
3D-architectured scaffolds
responsive surfaces
hybrid biomaterials
self-assembly
regenerative medicine
nanoparticles and nanomedicine
controlled drug release
biofunctionalization

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 3685 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Collagen-Coated Hyperelastic Bone Promotes Osteoblast Adhesion and Proliferation

by Andrei Gresita, Iman Raja, Eugen Petcu and Michael Hadjiargyrou

Materials 2023, 16(21), 6996; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16216996 - 01 Nov 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 864

Abstract

Successfully reconstructing bone and restoring its dynamic function represents a significant challenge for medicine. Critical size defects (CSDs), resulting from trauma, tumor removal, or degenerative conditions, do not naturally heal and often require complex bone grafting. However, these grafts carry risks, such as tissue rejection, infections, and surgical site damage, necessitating the development of alternative treatments. Three-dimensional and four-dimensional printed synthetic biomaterials represent a viable alternative, as they carry low production costs and are highly reproducible. Hyperelastic bone (HB), a biocompatible synthetic polymer consisting of 90% hydroxyapatite and 10% poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid, PLGA), was examined for its potential to support cell adhesion, migration, and proliferation. Specifically, we seeded collagen-coated HB with MG-63 human osteosarcoma cells. Our analysis revealed robust cell adhesion and proliferation over 7 days in vitro, with cells forming uniform monolayers on the external surface of the scaffold. However, no cells were present on the core of the fibers. The cells expressed bone differentiation markers on days 3 and 5. By day 7, the scaffold began to degrade, developing microscopic fissures and fragmentation. In summary, collagen-coated HB scaffolds support cell adhesion and proliferation but exhibit reduced structural support after 7 days in culture. Nevertheless, the intricate 3D architecture holds promise for cellular migration, vascularization, and early osteogenesis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Inspired and Biomimetic Materials for Healthcare: From Nature to Clinics)

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20 pages, 4900 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Bio-Activation of HA/β-TCP Porous Scaffolds by High-Pressure CO₂ Surface Remodeling: A Novel “Coating-from” Approach

by Clémentine Aubry, Christophe Drouet, Thierry Azaïs, Hyoung-Jun Kim, Jae-Min Oh, Ipek Karacan, Joshua Chou, Besim Ben-Nissan, Séverine Camy and Sophie Cazalbou

Materials 2022, 15(20), 7306; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15207306 - 19 Oct 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1851

Abstract

Biphasic macroporous Hydroxyapatite/β-Tricalcium Phosphate (HA/β-TCP) scaffolds (BCPs) are widely used for bone repair. However, the high-temperature HA and β-TCP phases exhibit limited bioactivity (low solubility of HA, restricted surface area, low ion release). Strategies were developed to coat such BCPs with biomimetic apatite to enhance bioactivity. However, this can be associated with poor adhesion, and metastable solutions may prove difficult to handle at the industrial scale. Alternative strategies are thus desirable to generate a highly bioactive surface on commercial BCPs. In this work, we developed an innovative “coating from” approach for BCP surface remodeling via hydrothermal treatment under supercritical CO₂, used as a reversible pH modifier and with industrial scalability. Based on a set of complementary tools including FEG-SEM, solid state NMR and ion exchange tests, we demonstrate the remodeling of macroporous BCP surface with the occurrence of dissolution–reprecipitation phenomena involving biomimetic CaP phases. The newly precipitated compounds are identified as bone-like nanocrystalline apatite and octacalcium phosphate (OCP), both known for their high bioactivity character, favoring bone healing. We also explored the effects of key process parameters, and showed the possibility to dope the remodeled BCPs with antibacterial Cu²⁺ ions to convey additional functionality to the scaffolds, which was confirmed by in vitro tests. This new process could enhance the bioactivity of commercial BCP scaffolds via a simple and biocompatible approach. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Inspired and Biomimetic Materials for Healthcare: From Nature to Clinics)

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Review

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21 pages, 5637 KiB

Open AccessReview

XFEM for Composites, Biological, and Bioinspired Materials: A Review

by Andre E. Vellwock and Flavia Libonati

Materials 2024, 17(3), 745; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17030745 - 04 Feb 2024

Viewed by 1023

Abstract

The eXtended finite element method (XFEM) is a powerful tool for structural mechanics, assisting engineers and designers in understanding how a material architecture responds to stresses and consequently assisting the creation of mechanically improved structures. The XFEM method has unraveled the extraordinary relationships between material topology and fracture behavior in biological and engineered materials, enhancing peculiar fracture toughening mechanisms, such as crack deflection and arrest. Despite its extensive use, a detailed revision of case studies involving XFEM with a focus on the applications rather than the method of numerical modeling is in great need. In this review, XFEM is introduced and briefly compared to other computational fracture models such as the contour integral method, virtual crack closing technique, cohesive zone model, and phase-field model, highlighting the pros and cons of the methods (e.g., numerical convergence, commercial software implementation, pre-set of crack parameters, and calculation speed). The use of XFEM in material design is demonstrated and discussed, focusing on presenting the current research on composites and biological and bioinspired materials, but also briefly introducing its application to other fields. This review concludes with a discussion of the XFEM drawbacks and provides an overview of the future perspectives of this method in applied material science research, such as the merging of XFEM and artificial intelligence techniques. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Inspired and Biomimetic Materials for Healthcare: From Nature to Clinics)

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30 pages, 6967 KiB

Open AccessReview

Bio-Inspired Micro- and Nanorobotics Driven by Magnetic Field

by Anton V. Chesnitskiy, Alexey E. Gayduk, Vladimir A. Seleznev and Victor Ya Prinz

Materials 2022, 15(21), 7781; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15217781 - 04 Nov 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4034

Abstract

In recent years, there has been explosive growth in the number of investigations devoted to the development and study of biomimetic micro- and nanorobots. The present review is dedicated to novel bioinspired magnetic micro- and nanodevices that can be remotely controlled by an external magnetic field. This approach to actuate micro- and nanorobots is non-invasive and absolutely harmless for living organisms in vivo and cell microsurgery, and is very promising for medicine in the near future. Particular attention has been paid to the latest advances in the rapidly developing field of designing polymer-based flexible and rigid magnetic composites and fabricating structures inspired by living micro-objects and organisms. The physical principles underlying the functioning of hybrid bio-inspired magnetic miniature robots, sensors, and actuators are considered in this review, and key practical applications and challenges are analyzed as well. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Inspired and Biomimetic Materials for Healthcare: From Nature to Clinics)

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