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Cardiac tissue engineering aims at repairing damaged heart muscle and producing human cardiac tissues for application in drug toxicity studies. This book offers a comprehensive overview of the cardiac tissue engineering strategies, including presenting and discussing the various concepts in use, research directions and applications. Essential basic information on the major components in cardiac tissue engineering, namely cell sources and biomaterials, is firstly presented to the readers, followed by a detailed description of their implementation in different strategies, broadly divided to cellular and acellular ones. In cellular approaches, the biomaterials are used to increase cell retention after implantation or as scaffolds when bioengineering the cardiac patch, in vitro. In acellular approaches, the biomaterials are used as ECM replacement for damaged cardiac ECM after MI, or, in combination with growth factors, the biomaterials assume an additional function as a depot for prolonged factor activity for the effective recruitment of repairing cells. The book also presents technological innovations aimed to improve the quality of the cardiac patches, such as bioreactor applications, stimulation patterns and prevascularization. This book could be of interest not only from an educational perspective (i.e. for graduate students), but also for researchers and medical professionals, to offer them fresh views on novel and powerful treatment strategies. We hope that the reader will find a broad spectrum of ideas and possibilities described in this book both interesting and convincing. Table of Contents: Introduction / The Heart: Structure, Cardiovascular Diseases, and Regeneration / Cell Sources for Cardiac Tissue Engineering / Biomaterials: Polymers, Scaffolds, and Basic Design Criteria / Biomaterials as Vehicles for Stem Cell Delivery and Retention in the Infarct / Bioengineering of Cardiac Patches, In Vitro / Perfusion Bioreactors and Stimulation Patterns in Cardiac Tissue Engineering / Vascularization of Cardiac Patches / Acellular Biomaterials for Cardiac Repair / Biomaterial-based Controlled Delivery of Bioactive Molecules for Myocardial Regeneration

The analysis of bioelectrical signals continues to receive wide attention in research as well as commercially because novel signal processing techniques have helped to uncover valuable information for improved diagnosis and therapy. This book takes a unique problem-driven approach to biomedical signal processing by considering a wide range of problems in cardiac and neurological applications–the two'heavyweight'areas of biomedical signal processing. The interdisciplinary nature of the topic is reflected in how the text interweaves physiological issues with related methodological considerations. Bioelectrical Signal Processing is suitable for a final year undergraduate or graduate course as well as for use as an authoritative reference for practicing engineers, physicians, and researchers. - A problem-driven, interdisciplinary presentation of biomedical signal processing - Focus on methods for processing of bioelectrical signals (ECG, EEG, evoked potentials, EMG) - Covers both classical and recent signal processing techniques - Emphasis on model-based statistical signal processing - Comprehensive exercises and illustrations - Extensive bibliography

This special volume of the Journal of Elasticity represents the first in a new p- gram dedicated to the occasional publication of collections of invited, reviewed papers of topical interest. The purpose of this program is to spotlight the dev- opments and applications in the mechanics of materials within specific areas that can enhance growth and provide insight for the advancement of the field as well as promote fundamental understanding and basic discovery. Soft Tissue Mechanics is an area of biomechanics that draws heavily upon f- damental ideas and material models from nonlinear elasticity and viscoelasticity. A major goal of this research is to understand those mechanics properties of heart, artery, collagen and skeletal muscle tissue that can be used for the diagnosis of health problems and the improvement of human life. This volume illustrates how experiment, modeling and computation is currently employed in this emerging field. May 2001 ROGER FOSDICK Editor-in-Chief Journal of Elasticity 61: ix–xii, 2000. ix Preface There are two primary areas for the application of elasticity in the biomechanics of tissues: hard tissue mechanics (e.g., bone, teeth, horns, etc.) and soft tissue - chanics (e.g., skin, tendons, arteries, etc.). The distinguishing feature between these tissue types is the amount of physiological “normal” deformation they experience. While “hard” tissues only experience small deformations, soft tissues typically experience large deformations. From a biomechanics viewpoint soft tissues fall within the realm of finite elasticity.