NESAC/BIO provides the biomedical research community with state-of-the-art surface analysis expertise, instrumentation, experimental protocols, and data analysis methods to address biological and medical problems involving the surface and interfacial regions. Since the nature of the surface strongly influences the composition and recognizability of the biomolecules and cells that interact with materials, understanding the structure of surfaces and the nature of adsorbed biomolecules are key links in understanding interfacial biology involved in biomedical applications. ESCA, ToF-SIMS, SPM, SFG, SPR and NEXAFS provide a powerful set of complementary techniques for addressing the challenges and complexity of new biomaterials and devices being developed. Each technique has its strengths and weaknesses for biomedical surface analysis, but together they provide a detailed and comprehensive understanding of biomedical surface structure and composition.
The specific aims of the Technology Research and Development projects are: (1) Standards and Model Systems, (2) Chemical State Imaging and (3) Instrument and Technique Development. New imaging instrumentation and methodology at NESAC/BIO is proposed for both 2-D and 3-D applications. Development of multivariate analysis methods will be important for both spectroscopic and image analysis. Standards will include nanoparticles, sugars, and oriented proteins.
The specific aim of the Collaborative Research projects is to use the surface analysis techniques and methods developed in the TRD projects to address important biomedical research problems. The areas of investigation include adsorbed peptides and proteins, tissue engineering, self-assembled films, cell and biofilm imaging, lipid surfaces, protein arrays, DNA arrays, and biomaterials with specific recognition sites. NESAC/BIO service activities will focus on providing ESCA and ToF-SIMS surface analysis data and reports to biomedical research community. Dissemination (presentations, publications, website, etc.) and Training projects (workshops, courses, one-on-one instruction, etc.) are also key parts of the NESAC/BIO program. .
Analysis of the surface region requires specialized instrumentation and methods. As this surface region is the interface between a biomaterial and the body, understanding and controlling its properties is essential in healthcare applications from the manufacturing of artificial joints to development of drug delivery devices
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