• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.231-240
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• 2014

Cartilage has a limited regenerative capacity. Faced with the clinical challenge of reconstruction of cartilage defects, the field of cartilage engineering has evolved. This article reviews current concepts and strategies in cartilage engineering with an emphasis on the application of nanotechnology in the production of biomimetic cartilage regenerative scaffolds. The structural architecture and composition of the cartilage extracellular matrix and the evolution of tissue engineering concepts and scaffold technology over the last two decades are outlined. Current advances in biomimetic techniques to produce nanoscaled fibrous scaffolds, together with innovative methods to improve scaffold biofunctionality with bioactive cues are highlighted. To date, the majority of research into cartilage regeneration has been focused on articular cartilage due to the high prevalence of large joint osteoarthritis in an increasingly aging population. Nevertheless, the principles and advances are applicable to cartilage engineering for plastic and reconstructive surgery.

• Composites Research
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.1-6
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• 2010

The dynamicresponse of biomimetic composites mimicking nacre under low velocity impact is investigated. The composites have hierarchical structures with a staggered pattern consisting of a protein and a mineral. To analyze the impact response of the composites, the finite element method is used. The effects of the hierarchical structures of the compositeson the dynamic response are examined. It is shown that the maximum stress, displacement and contact force in the composite subjected to low velocity impact decrease as the level of structural hierarchy increases.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.12
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• pp.3998-4002
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• 2012

With continuing progress of nanotechnologies and various applications of nanoparticles, one needs to develop a quick and fairly standard assessment tool to evaluate cytotoxicity of nanoparticles. However, much cytotoxicity studies on the interpretation of the interaction between nanoparticles and cells are non-mechanistic and time-consuming. Here, we propose a simple screening method for the analysis of the interaction between several AgNPs (5.3 to 64 nm) and fluorescence-dye containing vesicles ($12{\mu}m$) acting as a biomimetic cell-membrane. Fluorescence-dye containing vesicle was prepared using a fluorescence probe (1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatryene), which was intercalated into the lipid bilayer due to their hydrophobicity. Zeta potential of all materials except for bare-AgNPs (+32.8 mV) was negative (-26 to -54 mV). The morphological change (i.e., rupture and fusion of vesicle, and release of dye) after mixing of the vesicle and AgNPs was observed by fluorescence microscopy, and fluorescence image were different with coating materials and surface charge of x-AgNPs. In the results, we found that the surface charge of nanoparticles is the key factor for vesicle rupture and fusion. This proposed method might be useful for analyzing the cytotoxicity of nanoparticles with cell-membranes instead of in vitro or in vivo cytotoxicity tests.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.57-108
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• 2012

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.205-212
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• 2009

This paper proposes a biomimetic hand prosthesis with tendon-driven five fingers. Each finger is composed of a distal-middle phalange, a proximal phalange and a metacarpal bone, which are connected to a link mechanism. The finger flexion is a resultant motion by pulling a wire to serve as a tendon, but the finger extension is performed by an elastic mechanism composed of a restoration spring. The designed hand prosthesis with tendon-driven five fingers has totally six degrees of freedom. But its weight is merely 400.73g. The hand can perform various hand functions such as the grasping and the hand postures. From experimental results, we show that the proposed hand prosthesis is useful to amputees as a prosthetic hand.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.103-106
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• 2014

Nacre is an organic-inorganic composite material; it is composed of $CaCO_3$ platelet and protein. The microstructure of nacre is a matrix that is similar to bricks and mortar. Technology inspired by nature is called biomimetic technology. In this study, to make high thermal conducting ceramic composite materials using biomimetic technology, a porous green body was prepared with BN platelets. PMMA was infiltrated into the porous green body to make a composite. The microstructure of the composite was observed with FESEM, and the thermal properties were measured. The thermal conductivity of the prepared organic-inorganic composite was 4.19 $W/m{\cdot}K$.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.188-192
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• 2012

In this study, a carbon nanotube (CNT) flexible strain sensor was fabricated with CNT based epoxy and rubber composites for tactile sensing. The flexible strain sensor can be fabricated as a long fibrous sensor and it also may be able to measure large deformation and contact information on a structure. The long and flexible sensor can be considered to be a continuous sensor like a dendrite of a neuron in the human body and we named the sensor as a biomimetic artificial neuron. For the application of the neuron in biomimetic engineering, an ANMS (Artificial Neuron Matrix System) was developed by means of the array of the neurons with a signal processing system. Moreover, a strain positioning algorithm was also developed to find localized tactile information of the ANMS with Labview for the application of an artificial e-skin.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.45 no.10
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• pp.638-643
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• 2008

Biomimetic apatite formation and deposition behaviors of Ti-6Al-7Nb and Ti-6Al-4V plates in simulated body fluids(SBF) under various conditions were examined. In case of regular samples without collagen treatments the weight gain due to apatite precipitation on the surface in Ti-6Al-4V was found to be higher than in Ti-6Al-7Nb. In case of collagen-coated samples, the weight gain in Ti-6Al-4V continued to be higher than in Ti-6Al-7Nb, but the difference between the two became smaller. Both Ti-6Al-7Nb and Ti-6Al-4V samples with collagen coating exhibited an appreciable increase of weight gain, which may be caused by the interaction between collagen and $Ca^{+2}$ ions. The weight gain was found to be not much affected by the addition of collagen to SBF. The ill-defined granular structure in the presence of collagen can be associated with the increasing volume fraction of amorphous calcium phosphate.

• Polymer Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.460-466
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• 2011

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.690-696
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• 2005

The ultrastructure ore of a nanostructured apatite film nucleated from solution was studied to gain insights into that of bone minerals which is the most important constituent to sustain the strength of bones. Needle-shaped apatite crystal plates with a bimodal size distribution $(\~100\;to\;\~1000 nm)$ were randomly distributed and they were found to grow parallel to the c-axis ([002]), driven by the reduction of surface energy. Between these randomly distributed needle-shaped apatite crystals which are parallel to the film, apatite crystals (20-40nm) with the normal of the grains quasi-perpendicular to the c-axis were observed. These observations suggest that the apatite film is the interwoven structure of apatite crystals with the c-axis parallel and quasi-perpendicular to the fan. In some regions, amorphous calcium phosphate, which is a precursor of apatite, was also observed. In the amorphous phase, small crystalline particle with the size of 2-3 nm were observed. These particles were quite similar, in size and shape, to those observed in the femoral trabecular bone, suggesting the nucleation of apatites by a biomimetic process in vitro is similar to that in vivo.