Nano-materials for Piezoelectric Heart Pump and other Biomedical Applications

III-11: Nano-materials for Piezoelectric Heart Pump and other Biomedical Applications

Jan Ma, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Tel: 65-67906214 (asjma@ntu.edu.sg)

Abstract

It is well accepted that nano-materials can provide tremendous enhancement in properties of devices. In our work, applications of nano-materials, such as dopants for piezoelectric micro/nano actuators and biomimetic processing of bioactive interface for implants, are established. Piezoelectric materials have attracted huge attention in the recent years as they possess excellent properties in micro-devices such as low power requirement, high efficiency and non-electromagnetic. The properties of piezoelectric materials can be further enhanced via nano-dopants and the application has been demonstrated to be excellent as in the example of heart pump, which applies the ferroelectric properties of ceramic materials and induces rotational motion to drive the blood. Biocompatibility of implant materials is always an issue to improve the quality of patients. In recent years, implantable bio-chips have also been discussed. Enhancement of the bio-activity of these implant materials is hence of contemporary interest. Improvement of bioactivity can be achieved by a biomimetic approach to functionalize the implant surfaces, hence induces grow of apatite in body fluid. The same concept is also extended to the synthesis of mesoporous materials, where non-silicate systems were synthesized.