Biomaterials and Nanotechnology for Tissue Engineering

Nanotechnology and high-end characterization techniques have highlighted the importance of the material choice for the success of tissue engineering. A paradigm shift has been seen from conventional passive materials as scaffolds to smart multi-functional materials that can mimic the complex intracellular milieu more effectively. This book presents a detailed overview of the rationale involved in the choice of materials for regeneration of different tissues and the future directions in this fascinating area of materials science with specific chapters on regulatory challenges & ethics; tissue engineered medical products.

Dr. S. Swaminathan is currently the Director, Centre for Nanotechnology & Advanced Biomaterials (CeNTAB) at SASTRA University. Dr. Swaminathan received his Ph.D. from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA. Currently, his research is focused on the development of novel three- dimensional polymeric nanofiber scaffolds for tissue engineering of skin, cardiovascular arteries, nerve regeneration and esophagus using aligned and random nanofibers. Author has seven US and Indian patents apart from 34 publications in peer-reviewed international journals. He is a member of the Orthopaedic Research Society, Illinois, USA and Materials Research Society, Pennsylvania, USA and a Panel Member, on Nanotechnology and Developing Countries, Joint Centre for Bioethics, University of Toronto, Canada.

Dr. K. Uma Maheswari received her M. Sc. and Ph. D. degree in Applied Chemistry from Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore. She worked on "Studies on the interaction of certain anticancerous drugs with planar lipid bilayers to assess their non-specific action" for her Ph.D. and the thesis was highly commended. After her Ph.D., She joined as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas, USA) in 2002. She then joined SASTRA University in 2003 and is currently Deakin Indo-Australian Chair Professor and Associate Dean for the Departments of Chemistry, Pharmacy and Bioengineering in SASTRA University (Thanjavur). She has co-authored 49 publications in peer-reviewed international journals. Her research mainly focuses on self-assembled materials which includes liposomes, peptides, mesoporous materials and iron oxide for theranostic applications, smart nanocarriers for therapy and cell engineering, nanotoxicology and electrophysiology.

Dr. S. Anuradha has received her Ph.D. from the Centre for Nanotechnology and Advanced Biomaterials (CeNTAB) at SASTRA University, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India. She has been working on the development of three-dimensional axially aligned nanofibrous scaffold for neural regeneration during her doctoral study, under the guidance of Dr. Swaminathan, Director, CeNTAB, SASTRA Univeristy, Thanjavur, Tamilnadu and the thesis was awarded "Best Dissertation award" of the year 2011. Dr. S. Anuradha is currently involved in research at CeNTAB, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA University as Assistant Professor-Research, focusing on the development of various scaffolds for tissue regeneration and another perspective focuses on the theranostic approaches against cancer.