In Situ Orthopaedic Sensors and Electrically Controlled Drug Delivery

Tuesday, 25 June 2013 at 15:00 in INF 328

Sirinrath Sirivisoot, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand

 

Abstract:
The medical diagnosis of early bone growth surrounding implants remains clinically problematic. The development of a device allowing doctors to monitor the healing cascade and to diagnose potential infection or inflammation is necessary. Biological detection can be examined by the electrochemical analysis of electron transfer (or redox) reactions of extracellular matrix proteins involved in bone deposition and resorption. The use of carbon nanotubes as signal amplifiers in electrochemical sensors has greatly improved the sensitivity of detection. Nanotechnology-enabled in situ sensors that can be placed on the implant surface itself show promise as self-diagnosing devices, possibly to detect new bone growth surrounding the implant and other cellular events to ensure implant success. This talk will address the significance of developing in situ bone-growth sensors. We will also discuss electrically controlled drug delivery using polypyrrole to decrease infection and suppress inflammation for orthopaedic implants.

 

Short Bio:
Dr. Sirivisoot currently is a lecturer for the Biological Engineering Program, Faculty of Engineering at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand. She worked on her Ph.D. research in Nanomedicine Laboratory with Prof. Thomas J. Webster. She obtained her Ph.D. in electrical sciences and computer engineering from Brown University, USA (Sc.M., 2007; Ph.D., 2009). She worked on her postdoctoral research with Prof. Benjamin S. Harrison at Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) at Wake Forest University Health Sciences, USA. She has published 6 book chapters, 23 literature articles and/or conference proceedings, and 2 patents. Dr. Sirivisoot was the 2005 recipient of the Thai Government Scholarship from National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA).