Department of Biomedical Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) is a premier institute of science and technology established in 2008. IITH has been consistently ranked in the&nbsp;<a href="https://iith.ac.in/reports/" rel="noopener noreferrer">top 10 institutes</a>&nbsp;in India for Engineering&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nirfindia.org/2021/EngineeringRanking.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">according to NIRF</a>&nbsp;making it one of the most coveted schools for science and technology in the country.

IITH offers&nbsp;<a href="https://iith.ac.in/academics/under-graduate/">undergraduate programs</a>&nbsp;in all the classical engineering disciplines, applied sciences, design, as well as several modern interdisciplinary areas. Students are given a flexibility to explore a broad set of areas, and potentially pursue a minor or double major in a discipline that is not their own. Students who wish to seek a deeper understanding of their own discipline are strongly encouraged to get involved in cutting-edge research with the help of a faculty to mentor them, and earn an Honors in their own field.

The very foundation of IIT Hyderabad is based on&nbsp;<a href="https://iith.ac.in/research/">research and innovation</a>. The vibrant research culture is evident from the number of patents and publications that IITH produces consistently every year. IITH offers&nbsp;<a href="https://iith.ac.in/academics/programmes-offered/">graduate programs</a>&nbsp;at both a masters, and a doctoral level, in several diverse areas. There are separate programs for technology, design, science, and liberal arts. The&nbsp;<a href="https://iith.ac.in/academics/post-graduate/">MTech program</a>&nbsp;is offered in various modes and durations to cater to the ever-growing need of postgraduate level professionals in the country.

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IITH enjoys a very special relationship with Japanese universities and industries that goes beyond academic and research collaborations. In fact, some of the iconic buildings in IITH campus will carry the signature of Japanese architecture.

IITH creates a unique holistic ecosystem for education that offers interactive learning, a very flexible academic structure, cutting-edge research, strong industry collaboration, and entrepreneurship. This is an environment which enables students and faculty to translate their dreams into realities.

IIT Hyderabad

Biomarker detection with very high sensitivity is an important requisite for clinical disease diagnosis. Though these markers help to diagnose the onset of the disease, their levels are often too low at the initial stages of disease progression. Nanotechnology has emerged as a potential field of research in the development of several novel biosensors to detect accurately very low levels of such biomarkers. Several types of nanomaterials, based on their size, shape, surface characteristics, etc., have been utilized in the design and development of novel biosensors for the detection of various biomarkers for an effective point-of-care and onsite diagnosis. With the aid of nanotechnology, these point-of-care devices can also be miniaturized rendering a portable detection nanodevice fabrication with comparable sensitivity to that of the conventional sophisticated instruments. This chapter provides insight and overview of Nanobiosensor, which will reflect the information about various technologies, types of materials being used, and a wider range of applications in disease diagnosis. Eventually, we utilize numerous examples from different literature and research groups to provide an explicit view of each section. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

World University root node

Nanobiosensors for Point-of-Care Medical Diagnostics

Nanobiosensor: Advancement in Disease Diagnostic

Background: There has been a concern about the quality of clinical trials conducted in terms of data integrity, accuracy or ethical conduct. This study aimed to assess the tangible gap existing in knowledge and application of rules and guidelines among the Researcher, Research staff (RS) and Ethics Committee (EC) members-the three research stakeholders at the study sites. Methods: A validated e-questionnaire with details for demography, role, years of experience, affiliation and questions on knowledge and understanding about their clinical research functions based on the New Drugs and Clinical Trials (NDCT) Rules 2019, including: ‘Role and responsibility, Regulations, Reporting timelines, Documentation, Conflict of interest and Miscellaneous’ was circulated among the seven research sites of one organization with their fourteen Institutional ECs, as part of planned annual survey. Responses with >60% correct answers were arbitrarily considered to represent adequate knowledge Results: Of 201 participants, there were 27.4% Researchers, 50.2% were from the EC and 22.4% RS. A greater proportion of the Researchers (43.6%) had >5 years of experience. The mean ± SD of correct answers obtained was 66.9 ± 14.77 and was statistically significant (p<0.05) among the groups, highest for the EC members (71.4 ± 11.51), those with 2-5 years of experience (68.4 ± 14.40), and least for the RS (56.8 ± 11.93). Researchers (> 90%) were aware of their role in the clinical trial agreement and the importance of the trial registration in the Clinical Trials Registry India. There were gaps in the knowledge on Informed Consent (IC) process and post-trial access. Awareness regarding the IC process was adequate among the RS (84%). Awareness that the responsibility of all delegation at the site finally lies with the Researchers was adequate (60%), but 20% incorrectly believed that the sponsor can have access to subject identification details. Deficiencies were noted regarding documentation, NDCT rules-2019 and serious adverse event (SAE) reporting process. Five percent answered that Data Clarification Forms were generated after reviewing the case report forms. The awareness that NDCT rules-2019 was not for medical devices, student projects or Investigator Initiated Studies was inadequate (56%). The EC members’ awareness of roles and responsibilities was adequate (≥ 90%). Knowledge gaps were noted in EC monitoring of the ongoing trials (32%) and SAE reporting on the SUGAM portal (8.8%), where stakeholders can access the regulator's web services using a single window interface for clinical trial related activities. Conclusion: There are gaps in the knowledge of the 3 stakeholders at the site. Identifying and rectifying the gray areas will improve the site's performance. There is a need for regular training and assessments. © 2023 Bentham Science Publishers.

Reviews on Recent Clinical Trials

Assessment of Knowledge and Awareness Among the Stakeholders of Clinical Research at the Site: A Collaborative, Electronic-Survey Approach to Identify the Indicators of Quality

Optimization of the print setting is important to achieve the desired product characteristics, which, in turn, reduce the effort of the manufacturer and the cost of production. Natural fiber reinforced PETG composites can be a potential 3D printing raw material for additive manufacturing of medical products like scaffolds, implants, prostheses, and orthoses. But the process parameters of this unique composite material need to be optimized for the fabrication of complex structures. Here, PETG-silk fibroin (PETG-SF) composites were printed by optimizing the process parameters based on single and multi-objective optimization techniques for responses such as minimum porosity, maximum dimensional accuracy, and maximum yield load. For accurate measurement of porosity and dimensional accuracy, micro-CT analysis was employed. Single objective optimization results indicate layer height and printing temperature as the highest contributing factor for maximum dimensional accuracy, maximum yield load, and for minimum porosity. Multi objective optimization result shows high temperature, low layer height, and low speed are the best settings for minimum porosity, maximum yield load, and maximum dimensional accuracy. Finally, the optimized parameters were used to print an organic shaped object to validate the results for the production of patient specific anatomically conformed prosthesis and implants. Altogether, our results show that the process parameters have a significant influence on the 3D printing of natural fiber reinforced composites and a complex structure can be effectively fabricated with the optimized parameter settings. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.

Applied Composite Materials

Effect of Process Parameters on the Quality of Additively Manufactured PETG-Silk Composite

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are known for various biosensing applications owing to their unique physicochemical properties, ease of synthesis, surface functionalization, tunable optical properties with size and shape, etc. These unique properties of AuNPs allow sensing and detecting the presence of chemical compounds/biological molecules, aiding in their application in different fields of biomedical engineering. The principles of various biosensors like colorimetric biosensor, chemiluminescence biosensor, optical biosensor, electrochemical biosensor, and piezoelectric biosensor are discussed in detail in this chapter. The multiple biorecognition elements like enzymes and antibodies are also discussed. The different strategies and novel approaches for the design and development of biosensors including deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)–functionalized AuNP-based colorimetric assay, dual gold nanostructure–based electrochemical immunosensor, interdigitated device electrode–based biosensor, and microfluidics-based biosensor are discussed with their respective applications. The different examples showing enhanced sensing properties attributed to functionalization with AuNPs have also been included in the chapter. The applications of AuNPs for detection of cancer and infectious diseases are also discussed in detail in this chapter. Fluorescence and electrochemiluminescence of AuNP-based systems for DNA detection along with detection of small biomolecules and metabolites like cholesterol, hematin, uric acid, and proteins using AuNPs for the diagnosis of venous thromboembolism, Parkinson's disease, etc., are explored in this chapter. In addition to the application of AuNPs for detection of various analytes and metabolites of biological relevance, we have also explored the application of AuNPs for agricultural and environmental applications. The possible and probable future applications of AuNPs and the advent of wearable sensors are also discussed with multiple examples. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fundamentals of Sensor Technology: Principles and Novel Designs

Gold nanoparticle–based biosensing applications and fundamentals of sensor technology: principles and novel designs

Diabetes is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the world, and blood glucose monitoring is a crucial part of diabetes management. This needs the development of more precise, sensitive, and fast glucose biosensors. Metal nanoparticles (MNPs) have gotten a lot of attention in recent years because of their potential as a biosensor. MNPs are an excellent biosensor due to a variety of qualities such as higher surface area, biocompatibility, and high sensitivity, as well as their ability to be coupled with other nanostructures. Numerous metal and metal oxide nanoparticles each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages are currently being applied to develop more efficient biosensors. The aim of this chapter is to highlight recent developments in metal nanoparticle-based glucose biosensors and their mechanisms of action. © 2023 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

Glucose Oxidase: Structure, Properties and Applications

Metal nanoparticle-based glucose biosensors

With the increasing dependence on fluorescence bioimaging, luminogens with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties have gained significant attention due to their excellent photostabilization, minimal photobleaching, high reliability, and superior biocompatibility. Since mitochondria are crucial subcellular organelles in eukaryotic cells with important biological functions, organelle-specific AIE emitters with distinct functions have been highly sought after, but with limited success using simple synthetic methods. Here, we describe a strategy for synthesizing two triphenylamine (TPA) based acrylonitriles, tethered to different donor groups, TPA and phenothiazine (PTZ), respectively, with superior AIE properties using Suzuki coupling. We conducted a systematic and detailed experimental analysis of the structural characteristics of both AIE luminogens, which exhibited excellent photostability, a large Stokes shift, and bright solid-state emission. A cell viability study carried out with F1 and F2 dyes revealed that both luminogens exhibited excellent biocompatibility. Based on fluorescence experiments, F2 displayed excellent AIE characteristics, permeability, biocompatibility, and photostability compared to rhodamine 123, allowing it to selectively stain and track mitochondria in cancer cells over an extended period of time. The Pearson correlation coefficient of F2 and rhodamine 123 was estimated to have an r-value of 0.99. Our findings are expected to provide insight into the synthesis of an extensive archive of AIE-based acrylonitriles with fascinating properties for mitochondrial staining. © 2023 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

Department of Physics

Department of Chemistry

Biomaterials Science

Design and synthesis of photostable triphenylamine based neutral AIE nano luminogens: specific and long-term tracking of mitochondria in cells

Fungal keratitis/mycotic keratitis or keratomycosis, is characterized by the inflammation of underlying stroma of corneal epithelium due to fungal infection. Multi-drug resistance and subsequent recurrence of infection limits the clinical outcomes of anti-fungal agents such as Amphotericin B and Natamycin; and therefore, demands research on newer anti-microbial strategies. In this study, the authors have synthesized and characterized ethosomes (IAEs) encapsulating a NIR dye, Indocyanine green (ICG), and an anti-fungal drug, Amphotericin B, for a combinational photothermal therapy of fungal keratitis. The in vitro anti-fungal efficacy of the IAEs is validated against Candida albicans by colony formation assay, calcofluor staining, and SEM analysis. The results indicate that the IAEs, upon NIR irradiation, displays a synergistic anti-fungal efficacy. The IAEs are highly biocompatible when tested using a human corneal epithelial (HCE) cell line model (in vitro) and a Draize eye test model in rabbits (in vivo). Further, it is observed that the IAEs,upon NIR laser exposure significantly eliminate the fungal infection in rat model of occular fungal keratitis. The research indicates that the IAEs nano-formulation exhibits a synergistic and sustained anti-fungal effect paving its way for further translation from bench to bedside for the efficient management of fungal keratitis. © 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.

Advanced Therapeutics

Ethosomal Nanoformulations for Combinational Photothermal Therapy of Fungal Keratitis

Drug delivery and delivery systems are among the most important research disciplines today, and the relevance of nanofibers in achieving the appropriate release profile at specified sites for increased therapeutic advantages cannot be understated. Nanofiber-based drug delivery systems are fabricated and modified using a range of methods that entail a variety of factors and processes; tuning of these allows control of the drug release such as targeted, extended, multistage, and stimuli-responsive release. We explore nanofiber-based drug delivery systems from the most recent accessible literature, focusing on materials, techniques, modifications, drug release, applications, and challenges. This review offers a thorough assessment of the current and future potential of nanofiber-based drug delivery systems, with a particular emphasis on their capabilities in stimuli-responsive and dual drug delivery. The review begins with an introduction to the important characteristics of nanofibers that are useful in drug delivery applications, followed by materials and synthesis procedures for various types of nanofibers, as well as their practicality and scalability. The review then focuses on and explores the modification and functionalization strategies of nanofibers as essential features for regulating the applications of nanofibers in drug loading, transport, and release. Finally, this review investigates the range of nanofiber-based drug delivery systems in satisfying the current requirements by pointing out the areas that need improvement, followed by critical analysis, and offers probable solutions. © 2023 American Chemical Society.

Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering

ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering

Nanofiber-Based Systems for Stimuli-Responsive and Dual Drug Delivery: Present Scenario and the Way Forward

Immunotherapy involves the therapeutic alteration of the patient's immune system to identify, target, and eliminate cancer cells. Dendritic cells, macrophages, myeloid-derived suppressor cells, and regulatory T cells make up the tumor microenvironment. In cancer, these immune components (in association with some non-immune cell populations like cancer-associated fibroblasts) are directly altered at a cellular level. By dominating immune cells with molecular cross-talk, cancer cells can proliferate unchecked. Current clinical immunotherapy strategies are limited to conventional adoptive cell therapy or immune checkpoint blockade. Targeting and modulating key immune components presents an effective opportunity. Immunostimulatory drugs are a research hotspot, but their poor pharmacokinetics, low tumor accumulation, and non-specific systemic toxicity limit their use. This review describes the cutting-edge research undertaken in the field of nanotechnology and material science to develop biomaterials-based platforms as effective immunotherapeutics. Various biomaterial types (polymer-based, lipid-based, carbon-based, cell-derived, etc.) and functionalization methodologies for modulating tumor-associated immune/non-immune cells are explored. Additionally, emphasis has been laid on discussing how these platforms can be used against cancer stem cells, a fundamental contributor to chemoresistance, tumor relapse/metastasis, and failure of immunotherapy. Overall, this comprehensive review strives to provide up-to-date information to an audience working at the juncture of biomaterials and cancer immunotherapy. Statement of significance: Cancer immunotherapy possesses incredible potential and has successfully transitioned into a clinically lucrative alternative to conventional anti-cancer therapies. With new immunotherapeutics getting rapid clinical approval, fundamental problems associated with the dynamic nature of the immune system (like limited clinical response rates and autoimmunity-related adverse effects) have remained unanswered. In this context, treatment approaches that focus on modulating the compromised immune components within the tumor microenvironment have garnered significant attention amongst the scientific community. This review aims to provide a critical discussion on how various biomaterials (polymer-based, lipid-based, carbon-based, cell-derived, etc.) can be employed along with immunostimulatory agents to design innovative platforms for selective immunotherapy directed against cancer and cancer stem cells. © 2023 Acta Materialia Inc.

Acta Biomaterialia

Biomaterial-based platforms for modulating immune components against cancer and cancer stem cells

In this study, we attempted to classify categorical emotional states using Electrodermal Activity (EDA) signals and a configurable Convolutional Neural Network (cCNN). The EDA signals from the publicly available, Continuously Annotated Signals of Emotion dataset were down-sampled and decomposed into phasic components using the cvxEDA algorithm. The phasic component of EDA was subjected to Short-Time Fourier Transform-based time-frequency representation to obtain spectrograms. These spectrograms were input to the proposed cCNN to automatically learn the prominent features and discriminate varied emotions such as amusing, boring, relaxing, and scary. Nested k-Fold cross-validation was used to evaluate the robustness of the model. The results indicated that the proposed pipeline could discriminate the considered emotional states with a high average classification accuracy, recall, specificity, precision, and F-measure scores of 80.20%, 60.41%, 86.8%, 60.05%, and 58.61%, respectively. Thus, the proposed pipeline could be valuable in examining diverse emotional states in normal and clinical conditions.