Overcoming Challenges and Innovations in Orthopedic Prosthesis Design: An Interdisciplinary Perspective.

Recent advances in the orthopedic prostheses design have significantly improved the quality of life for individuals with orthopedic disabilities. However, there are still critical challenges that need to be addressed to further enhance the functionality of orthopedic prostheses improving biocompatibility to promote better integration with natural tissues, enhancing durability to withstand the demands of daily use, and improving sensory feedback for better control of movement are the most pressing issues. To address these challenges, promising emerging solutions such as smart prosthetics, 3D printing, regenerative medicine, and artificial intelligence have been developed. These innovative technologies hold the potential to significantly enhance the functionality of orthopedic prostheses. Realizing the full potential of these next-generation orthopedic prostheses requires addressing several critical factors. These include interdisciplinary collaboration between experts in orthopedics, materials science, biology, and engineering, increased investment in research and development, standardization of components to ensure quality and reliability, and improved access to prosthetics. A comprehensive review of these challenges and considerations for future orthopedic prosthesis design is s provided in this paper addressing the further advances to the field. By addressing these issues, we can continue to improve the lives of individuals with orthopedic disabilities and further enhance the field of orthopedic prosthetics.

Sperm Cell Driven Microrobots-Emerging Opportunities and Challenges for Biologically Inspired Robotic Design.

With the advent of small-scale robotics, several exciting new applications like Targeted Drug Delivery, single cell manipulation and so forth, are being discussed. However, some challenges remain to be overcome before any such technology becomes medically usable; among which propulsion and biocompatibility are the main challenges. Propulsion at micro-scale where the Reynolds number is very low is difficult. To overcome this, nature has developed flagella which have evolved over millions of years to work as a micromotor. Among the microscopic cells that exhibit this mode of propulsion, sperm cells are considered to be fast paced. Here, we give a brief review of the state-of-the-art of Spermbots - a new class of microrobots created by coupling sperm cells to mechanical loads. Spermbots utilize the flagellar movement of the sperm cells for propulsion and as such do not require any toxic fuel in their environment. They are also naturally biocompatible and show considerable speed of motion thereby giving us an option to overcome the two challenges of propulsion and biocompatibility. The coupling mechanisms of physical load to the sperm cells are discussed along with the advantages and challenges associated with the spermbot. A few most promising applications of spermbots are also discussed in detail. A brief discussion of the future outlook of this extremely promising category of microrobots is given at the end.

Ultrasound assisted synthesis of biodiesel from karanja oil by interesterification: Intensification studies and optimization using RSM.

The present work deals with the optimization of interesterification of karanja oil using response surface methodology (RSM) analysis with intensification studies based on the use of ultrasound. Esterification of karanja oil was performed as a pretreatment under fixed optimum conditions of molar ratio of 1:10, catalyst loading of 3.5% and temperature of 60 °C to reduce the acid value from initial of 10.5 mg of KOH/g to 1.8 mg of KOH/g. The pretreated oil was used for interesterification where the process parameters considered for optimization were time (X1), catalyst loading (X2), reactant ratio (X3) and duty cycle (X4), each varied at three levels. The maximum yield of FAME achieved using optimum parameters as time of 35 min, catalyst loading of 1 wt%, reactant ratio of 1:9 (mol:mol) and duty cycle of 60% was 91.56% (on the basis of theoretical ester formation). The effect of reaction temperature was also studied keeping other parameters constant at optimum conditions and it was observed that yield increases continuously with an increase in the temperature over the entire range of temperature. It was also demonstrated that ultrasound assisted interesterification approach gives less requirement of methyl acetate and catalyst as compared to the conventional approach. It was also observed that higher yield was obtained in the presence of ultrasound (91%) as compared to the conventional approach (60%). Kinetic studies established that second order rate equation fits the obtained data well. A mathematical model in RSM was also successfully developed which can be used to make predictions about the expected conversion. Overall the work demonstrated the intensification benefits of using ultrasound and established the optimum conditions for maximum benefits using RSM analysis.

Synthesis, biological evaluation and corrosion inhibition studies of transition metal complexes of Schiff base.

BACKGROUND: The transition metal complexes formed from Schiff base is regarded as leading molecules in medicinal chemistry. Because of the preparative availability and diversity in the structure of central group, the transition metals are important in coordination chemistry. In the present work, we have designed and prepared Schiff base and its metal complexes (MC1-MC4) and screened them for antimicrobial, anticancer and corrosion inhibitory properties. METHODOLOGY: The synthesized metal complexes were characterized by physicochemical and spectral investigation (UV, IR, 1H and 13C-NMR) and were further evaluated for their antimicrobial (tube dilution) and anticancer (SRB assay) activities. In addition, the corrosion inhibition potential was determined by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Antimicrobial screening results found complexes (MC1-MC4) to exhibit less antibacterial activity against the tested bacterial species compared to ofloxacin while the complex MC1 exhibited greater antifungal activity than the fluconazole. The anticancer activity results found the synthesized Schiff base and its metal complexes to elicit poor cytotoxic activity than the standard drug (5-fluorouracil) against HCT116 cancer cell line. Metal complex MC2 showed more corrosion inhibition efficiency with high Rct values and low Cdl values. CONCLUSION: From the results, we can conclude that complexes MC1 and MC2 may be used as potent antimicrobial and anticorrosion agents, respectively.