Nanofiber Essay

Although tissue engineers and researchers have already succeeded with creating new skin, blood vessels, bone and cartilage, the more complex organs are difficult to reproduce because of their different functions. Researchers must also be concerned with the mechanisms of growing the tissue. For instance, the advantages and disadvantages are not yet clear for the length of time the cells should be exposed to the growth factors or the difference between growing the tissue outside the body or implanting the scaffold inside the body and letting the tissue grow there. Scaffolding and injectable polymers that form scaffolds in irregular areas (like bone fractures) are also being improved. Much more research is being conducted in order to grow the hearts, livers, breasts, kidneys, and other valuable organs that so many people need.

There are several types of medication, each has a purpose and function needed for their administration via the different routes.

1.1 There are many procedures in place for ensuring the safe transit, distribution and obtaining of medication i.e.

There are various types of materials and equipment required to deliver medications via different routes examples of which are: patches for drug absorption i.e. in hormone replacement which can be placed in the most direct location, needles for subcutaneous injection i.e. in insulin dependant diabetes to allow the transfer of insulin into the body. Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy feed tubes for people with issues swallowing or with sever reflux to allow liquid food and medications to be administered whilst bypassing the throat and gullet.

Nano-composite plastics and carbon nanotubes have been utilized for industrial and consumer packaging, the later offering an improved packaging solution for electronics components by making the materials used lighter and stronger. Nano-porous silica is a high porous, low-density solid material that supports various temperatures making it a great insulation product that can be applied in a wide range of fields from pipe insulation to refrigerators and even microelectronics. Nanoparticle based colloids are employed in the manufacturing of sunscreens, paints, and printer inks and nano-coatings can be applied in order to obtain scratch resistant surfaces. Composite nano-materials can be considered the basis for all the other current and future commercial applications of nanotechnology.

B. Distribution-" refers to the movement of the drug through the blood stream to a specific site of action."( pg.1095 Pillitteri)

The venerable Honora “Nano” Nagle, foundress of the Presentation Sisters in the mid-18th century, was an Irish woman who responded to the needs of the impoverished and oppressed Catholic community, leaving an enduring legacy of education and service to the poor. Credited as being a pioneer of Catholic education in Ireland, Nano Nagle inspired her closest companions to form a community called the Society for the Charitable Instruction of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and their enduring legacy can be observed through the work of the Presentation sisters around the world. The plight of the poor in Dublin from the 1740’s inspired her generosity and assistance of the marginalized and this commitment to service continues throughout the world today through her Ode and those who support them.

When deciding on which area to focus on for this task it was important for me that medication administration is done with no room for error to occur. When administering any type of medication to a patient it must be clear as well as concise as to what you are doing. One thing that has to be correct at all times is the five rights’ to medication administration are followed and done correctly. The five rights’ are: Right patient, Right route, right time, right medication, Right dose. If you miss even one of these important rights you can cause severe harm to your patient.

Progressing to an ageing population, the number of bone disorders and conditions is an increasing problem affecting millions of people today, with osteoporosis being a key example. Bone grafting is one form of a bone regeneration treatment for patients suffering from bone fractures and injuries, congenital abnormalities as well as reconstruction of the bones. Bone regeneration relies on several factors such as defect and graft size, tissue viability, shape and volume and cost. Although, the current gold standard for bone regeneration is “Autograft” , its limitations such as donor site morbidity and pain as well as rejection and the cost in association with bone harvesting post a setback.

"A main obstacle in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine is offering the new tissue with a network of blood vessels, and connecting this to the individual's present blood supply; this is important for the tissue's survival and incorporation with adjacent tissues."

approaches for the treatment of bone defects can be overcome by the use of synthetic bone

However, a major surgical challenge is associated with large defects/critical size defects with limited intrinsic regenerative potential formed as a result of extensive soft tissue damage, insufficient surgical techniques, infections, and biomechanical instability. When the bone repair mechanism fails as a result of magnitude, infection or other causes, bone grafting has been shown to be a highly successful therapy. The motivation for research and the focus on translating bone engineering concepts into clinical application is rooted in the limitations associated with the growing, difficult orthopaedic, dental, and reconstructive surgery problems.

Medication or nutrients deposited directly into the vein for the fastest form of absorption (Chrisp & Taylor, 2011)

The main technique that will be used during this project is electrospinning nanofibers. The goal of electrospinning is to produce polymer fibers so that their diameters are much smaller, on a nano-scale size. Electrospinning fibers is a relatively cost effective and simple set-up (Pham, 2006) as shown in Figure 1.

A lack of targeting ability is yet another major disadvantage of many drugs. When a drug is administered parenterally, it is distributed to all parts of the human body through the bloodstream, rather than to the specific target organ which needs the pharmacological treatment. Biochemical and physiological barriers of certain organs also limit drug delivery to the specified organ, like the human