Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
already clearly foreseen, and others are still unpredictable. Among the foreseen devel-
opments, we can list:
Downscaling
, with a continuous trend towards miniaturization of biochips
and bioMEMS—for example the use of carbon nanotubes for improving the
detection accuracy. This trend seems unavoidable since the ultimate goal is
to work on single targets,
Integration:
Because miniaturization means also designing biochips contain-
ing a maximum of functions. Such designs simplify the problems of microflu-
idic connection between the different functions.
Handling of living cells:
Probably the most promising ongoing development.
Supported by biology, biotechnology is presently pursuing the development
of tools to facilitate the understanding of the complexity of cells, at the level
of the single cell as well as at the level of group of interacting cells
.
The phar-
maceutical industry is strongly implicated for the search and testing of drugs
directly on living cells, which are expected to rejuvenate the production of
new drugs.
Cancerous protein markers:
In cancerology, dramatic improvements are ex-
pected from the determination of marker proteins characterizing each specific
type of cancer. In this field, new biotechnological tools for early detection of
these markers are expected to totally change the prognosis of cancer.
Drug guidance:
The development of the techniques of drug guidance in the
human body to directly address defective cells has become another major
research topic. This is a domain where biotechnological developments could
contribute to the efficiency of drug guidance.
Self-assembly:
Side applications of biotechnology have already appeared and
are likely to increase with the techniques of self-assembly of nanoparticles
and macromolecules.
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An analysis of these listed trends shows that the theoretical background of this
book will remain relevant in the future. On a modeling point of view, the progres-
sive evolution towards smaller scales and smaller concentrations in particles is go-
ing to put forward the discrete numerical approaches. Even at a very small scale, the
buffer (carrier) liquid still satisfies the continuum assumption and its behavior can
be simulated by the classic Navier-Stokes formulation. On the other hand, discrete
methods—such as those we have presented in Chapters 4 and 5—are more appro-
priate to model the behavior of the transported particles when the number of these
particles becomes small. Numerical methods using a relevant coupling of the two
approaches will progressively be preferred to model such types of problems.
To conclude, the scientific domain of biotechnologies is complex and requires
a wide and strong scientific background. However, it is rewarding because it ad-
dresses the human conditions, and it is also motivating because it is wide open to
inventiveness and imagination.
