Recent Patents on Biomedical Engineering (Discontinued) - Volume 4, Issue 3, 2011

The inside of the human body is maintained within a narrow pH range around 7.4, but cancer nests are acidified, mainly due to insufficient blood circulation and impaired respiration. The activities of all enzymes are strictly dependent on pH, and hence many metabolic processes catalyzed by the pH-dependent enzymes decline as pH decreases in such acidified diseased areas, leading us to argue that the efficacy of inhibitors varies under different pH conditions. However, there have been few reports to examine inhibitor efficacy in acidic conditions. The main reason for this insufficient investigation may be that no reliable method for the screening of such medicines has been developed. Our group has invented a useful method for this purpose, and has found that several medicines have high efficacy as anti-cancer reagents under acidic conditions. In this article, we introduce this novel method applied for a patent and recent findings that encourage us to use this simple method for developing new anti-cancer drugs.

Bone formation via osteoinductive molecules is an established and promising approach for musculoskeletal regenerative therapies. Bone tissue engineering utilizing biocompatible scaffolds with osteoinductive molecules offers a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of bone defects and diseases. Currently, bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) and parathyroid hormone (PTH) are the only FDA-approved protein-based osteoinductive molecules. Since their approval, millions of patients worldwide have been treated with these protein-based medications. A large number of osteoinductive molecules have been recently discovered and patented due to the need for effective and affordable therapeutic strategies for the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. The authors take this opportunity to review the osteoinductive molecule patent literature paying specific attention to molecular biology, current clinical applications, and future prospects.

Bone is composed primarily of an inorganic mineral phase of calcium phosphate and an organic phase of collagen. Reconstruction of large bone defects resulting from trauma, pathological degeneration, or congenital deformity is a significant medical challenge. Due to the limited availability and potential immunogenicity associated with autografts and allografts, tissue engineering has emerged as an alternative strategy to repair, restore, and regenerate lost or damaged tissues using biomaterials, cells, and factors alone or in combination. Polymers, ceramics, and their composites have been widely investigated as biomaterials for the development of synthetic bone graft substitutes. Specifically composites of biodegradable polymers and bioactive ceramics are attractive candidates that closely match the desirable properties of an autograft tissue (e.g. osteoconductivity and osteoinductivity). Composites can be fabricated into a variety of threedimensional (3D) porous structures or matrices to encourage bone regeneration. They can be further enhanced by incorporation of various factors or cells to promote bone healing. Recent advances in nanotechnology have allowed for the fabrication of nanocomposites in the form of particles or nanofibers that mimic the hierarchical arrangement of native bone. Present review focuses on bone repair/regeneration strategies using polymer-ceramic composites and highlights some of the recent important patents in the areas of tissue engineering and orthopedic devices. A basic overview of the physicochemical, structural and biological elements of bone is described to provide design considerations for clinically viable bone graft substitutes. Challenges in the development of tissue-inducing materials capable of eliciting precise control over cellular functions are also discussed.

This paper presents and discusses a number of significant seminal patents on surgical correction of myopia, hyperopia and presbyopia. These patents essentially describe the devices and systems proposed to correct vision in the sense of ability for correct focusing on an image by correcting the eye length and the corneal curvature. In these developments the pioneering works of Helmholtz (Near Vision Accommodation Theory), Schachar (SASI, Schachar Accommodative Scleral Implant), Silvestrinin (INTACS, Keravision, intrastromal corneal ring (ICR)), Hood and Mendez (CK, Conductive Keratoplasty) and Shahinppor, Soltanpour and Shahinpoor (Active Scleral Bands, Bionic Vision) have been acknowledged and reported. Discussed are also surgical corrections of human eye refractive errors such as presbyopia, hyperopia, myopia, and astigmatism by using transcutaneously inductively energized artificial muscle implants to actively change the axial length and the corneal curvatures of the eye globe (active scleral bands) to correct vision refractive errors. Further briefly reviewed are active, electrically controllable and implantable artificial muscle systems that can be used in such surgical corrections. These polymeric artificial muscles can be integrated with or sutured to the body organs and tissues. In particular, they can be sutured to the body tissues and organs as implants to be transcutaneously inductively energized to actuate. These implants can induce enough accommodation of a few diopters, to correct presbyopia, hyperopia, and myopia on demand. In some preferred patent embodiments, the implant comprises an active sphinctering smart band to encircle the sclera, preferably implanted under the conjunctiva and under the extraocular muscles to uniformly constrict the eye globe, similar to a scleral buckle band for surgical correction of retinal detachment, to induce active temporary myopia (hyperopia) by increasing (decreasing) the active length of the globe. In another embodiment, multiple and specially designed constrictor bands can be used to enable surgeons to correct astigmatism. This review does not review the patents in connection with LASIK (Laser-Assisted in Situ Keratomileusis) and Excimer laser, as there are many reviews available on such developments. However, the pioneering works of Blum, Srinivasan and Wynne (Excimer Laser, Ablative Photodecomposition (APD), (US Patent 4,784,135, issued November 15, 1988)) and Professor Ioannis Pallikaris of University of Crete, Greece who was a pioneer in performing initial LASIK surgery should be acknowledged.

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is important for knee stability and kinematics. It is also the most commonly injured ligament of the knee and due to its poor healing potential, severe damage warrants surgical intervention including complete replacement. Therefore, investigators have begun to pursue new techniques and devices for the repair, regeneration, and replacement of the ACL. These options involve the use of mechanically functional grafts that are designed to increase implant stability in order to withstand normal mechanical loads (while promoting ligament development in some cases). This article presents background on the ACL and its replacement, novel replacement approaches utilizing a variety of materials, and recent patent coverage.

The patents annotated in this section have been selected from various patent databases. These recent patents are relevant to the articles published in this journal issue, categorized by medical imaging, bioinformatics, image processing, biomaterials, pharmaceutical drugs, bioengineering, medical devices, design, biological devices, biomechanics & diagnostic devices related to biomedical engineering.....