Multifunctionality of Iodinated Halogen-Bonded Polymer: Biodegradability, Radiopacity, Elasticity, Ductility, and Self-Healing Ability.

A polymer with high contents of ester bonds and iodine atoms was synthesized, exhibiting sufficient biodegradability and radioactivity for biomedical applications. The iodine moieties of the synthesized polyester can generate halogen bonding between molecules, which may develop additional functional properties through the bonding. In this study, poly(glycerol adipate) (PGA) was selected and synthesized as a polyester, which was then adequately conjugated with three different types of iodine compounds via the hydroxy groups of PGA. It was found that the iodine compounds could effectively work as donors of halogen bonding. The thermal analysis by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) revealed that the glass transition temperature increased with the increase in the strength of interactions caused by π-π stacking and halogen bonding, eventually reaching 49.6 °C for PGA with triiodobenzoic groups. An elastomeric PGA with monoiodobenzoic groups was also obtained, exhibiting a high self-healing ability at room temperature because of the reconstruction of halogen bonding. Such multifaceted performance of the synthesized polyester with controllable thermal/mechanical properties was realized by halogen bonding, leading to a promising biomaterial with multifunctionality.

Intelligent medicine case system with distributed RFID readers.

In Japan, the number of elderly recipients who take medicines regularly has been increasing due to population aging. Since they have many risks of incorrect medication, we have developed the intelligent medicine case system (iMec System) for assisting their caretakers in medication monitoring. The system confirms the type, quantity and timing of medication every time a recipient picks medicines up. And then, the system notifies the caretakers about the adequacy of the type, quantity, and timing. Since the way of medication is also specified on prescription by their doctors, we have strengthened the system so that it confirms the way of medication when the recipient picks medicines up. For realizing the function, we placed RFID readers in the iMec and the recipient's house. The readers measure the movement of objects such as medicines, foods, drinks, dishes, utensils. By using the information, the iMec could evaluate the adequacy about how to take medicines. We confirmed that the new system was able to recognize foods, drinks and utensils by experiments. In this paper, we propose an adequacy evaluation method by applying fuzzy inference.