Here you can read Q-Sense application notes on biomaterials research. If you want further reading scientific articles can be found in our publication database.
13: Simultaneous QCM-D and microscopy monitoring of cell adhesion Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation (QCM-D) is an acoustic surface sensitive technique, which provides simultaneous, real-time information on mass and structure of thin films. The mass of an adsorbed adlayer is sensed as resonance frequency of the sensor movement (Δf) and the viscoelastic properties are deduced from the damping of the sensor movement (ΔD). QCM-D can be combined with optical microscopy by using the QCM-D window module (Figure 1). A system of interest can thus be simultaneously sensed from the surface beneath and observed from above. This application note presents how such a combined set-up enables unique analysis of cell behavior at a solid support.
12: Hemocompatibility of hydroxyapatite Hydroxyapatite (HA) coatings are generally considered to improve the osseointegration of biomedical implants. In this example a nanocrystalline HA surface was compared to Titanium, a common implant material, and Chromium as negative control. It is generally assumed that selective adsorption of plasma proteins to the implant surface material is a critical factor for plasmic and cellular activation pathways. Several of these proteins are present in blood plasma (von Willebrand factor, fibrinogen, fibronectin, for instance). Even after a very short exposure time, these proteins bind to the artificial surfaces which will influence further interactions with integrins and activation pathways. It has previously been shown by Weber et al (J.Biomed. Mater. Res. 2005) that a model system of fibrinogen and the major platelet membrane receptor (GPIIb-IIIa) can be used to predict the performance of the hemocompatibility of polymeric biomaterials. This approach was repeated here with the novel HA surface and a reference TiOx surface.
10: Studying nucleation kinitics of bioceramics Bioceramic coatings of calcium phosphate (CaP) are used to improve the biological properties of medical implants. The crystallization of CaP is initiated on polyelectrolyte multilayers. Polyelectrolyte multilayers are used to build up a well-defined surface and by modifying the multilayer, the crystal nucleation and growth of CaP can be controlled. Polyelectrolyte multilayers are used in many biomaterial applications due to the unique possibilities to create surface coatings with desirable properties. Polyelectrolyte multilayers can also be modified to release drugs or active peptides. Here we show how QCM-D is used to optimize the process due to the unique possibility to monitor the build up and viscoelastic properties of the multilayer as well as the nucleation kinetics and crystal growth of CaP in situ in real-time.
5: Early detection of biofilm formation on steel surfaces In this application note QCM-D has been used to detect early biofilm formation on stainless steel surfaces. The results show that the technique is sensitive to bacterial attachment and growth. The ability to measure viscoelastic properties by dissipation measurements were proven useful for detection of slime formation from the formation of Leuconostoc mesenteroides cultivated on sucrose.
3: Analyzing surface induced complement activation This application note shows how QCM-D can be used to study immunogenicity of biomaterials. Biomaterials introduced into the body are known to cause surface associated complement activation in human sera, which triggers inflammation. By exposing different surfaces to human serum containing complement proteins, aspects of blood compatibility of the materials can be evaluated. Here, the blood compatibility of different biomaterials are quantified as amount of bound C3 convertase.
2: Structural changes of adsorbed protein layer Since QCM-D not only measures changes in f, related to adsorbed mass, but also changes in dissipation (D), structural changes such as cross-linking and folding/unfolding can be monitored. In this application note an elongated protein layer collapses when exposed to NalO4 and the thickness decreases from 22 nm to 7 nm. The kinetics of the structural change is easily followed in real-time with QCM-D.
Order product information
