Erik Hansen and Kaveri Salunke, “Self-Healing Biocompatible Materials and Applications”
Mentor: Pradeep Rohatgi, Materials Science & Engineering
Self-healing materials have innate capabilities to restore geometry and mend damage in a structure compared to biological material. These materials have tremendous potential to prevent catastrophic failures and overcome fatigue issues by repairing structural damage as it occurs. We will be examining self-healing materials such as metals, hydrogels, and polymers as well as a combination of other self-healing mechanisms to better understand their applications and potential uses in the human body. Furthermore, through theoretical analysis, we can try to understand whether the application would be potentially successful. Smart alloys and polymers have already begun revolutionizing the biomedical engineering industry by implementing their properties and applying them inside the human body. There are different self-healing mechanisms present in current materials such as the application of heat, use of capsules, and various stimuli that activate those mechanisms. However, the human body has a complex chemistry with an aggressive immune system to protect itself from foreign materials which poses the greatest challenge. We have examined some of the potential benefits and risks of using these mechanisms inside the body and compared the human environments with the chemistry of the different materials. Some of the potential risks we explore include heat, toxicity, corrosion, and development of thrombus. From this, we then analyze possible solutions to solve the risks associated with the materials. Currently, the biomedical industry is still developing a biocompatible material that provides the combination of load bearing support and self-healing properties needed for the application within the human body. This research will help explore the different possibilities to reach the goal of making self-healing materials completely biocompatible.
Synchronous Presentation April 16th at 1:00pm
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Thank you very much for nice presentation. My question is about the timing and process of self-healing. Isn’t so that the self-healing needs to start some time after the implant itself face problem and healing? If so, then I think the stimulator of self-healing has to be some local factor (biological, forces, changes in the structure, deformation, ..) rather than temperature.
The next question is that what range of temperature these material need to initiate the self-healing? Considering their translational application the material has to be extremely sensitive to temperature, I believe. Which metal based material could be the best candidates with this property, which polymers?