| Post Doctoral Fellow
NAST | Facultà di Scienze
Università di Roma II
Via Della Ricerca Scientifica, 1
00133 Roma, Italy
cameron.brown@uniroma2.it
Université du Québec
Institut national de la recherche scientifique
Énergie, Matériaux et Télécommunications
1650, boulevard Lionel-Boulet
Varennes, Québec, Canada
J3X 1S2
Telephone: +1 (450) 929-8181
Fax: +1 (450) 929-8102
brown@emt.inrs.ca
www.emt.inrs.ca
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Spider silk is a remarkable material, with significant potential for use
in a range of biomedical applications, particularly tissue replacement
and repair. Biocompatibility and controllable biodegradability, plus exceptional
mechanical properties – matching man-made fibres in terms of strength
and outperforming them in energy processing capacity – make this
material an interesting subject for investigation. Further, as silks are
produced by spinning rather than by growth, they have a realistic potential
for commercial bulk production.
There is, however, a need to increase our knowledge of the structure and
structural mechanisms by which silks process stress, so that effective
synthetic materials can be produced. The first phase of this project seeks
to better understand the transient structure-function relationships of
spider silk over the nanometre to micrometre scales to inform synthesis
procedures.
Once a mechanically suitable material can be synthesized, it will become
important to define the features of that material that can be used to
control the biological response. In the second phase of the project we
will investigate the interaction of cells with the structural features
of the fibre, particularly the nanometre scale fibrils at its core.
Published journal papers
Brown CP, Crawford RW, and Oloyede A. An alternative
mechanical parameter for assessing the viability of articular cartilage.
Proceedings of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers - Part H, in press.
Brown CP, Hughes S, Crawford, RW, Oloyede, A. Joint laminate
degradation assessed by reflected ultrasound from the cartilage surface
and osteochondral junction. Physics in Medicine and Biology 2008; 53:
4123-4135.
Brown CP, Hughes S, Crawford, RW, Oloyede, A. Ultrasound
assessment of articular cartilage: Analysis of natural and artificial
degradation using the frequency domain. Connective Tissue Research 2007;
48: 277-285.
Brown CP, Crawford RW, and Oloyede A. Indentation stiffness
does not discriminate between normal and degraded articular cartilage.
Clinical Biomechanics 2007; 22: 843-848.
Brown CP, Moody HR, Crawford RW, Oloyede A. A novel approach
to the development of benchmarking parameters for characterising cartilage
health. Connective Tissue Research 2007; 48: 52-61.
Moody HR, Brown CP, Bowden JC, McElwain DLS, Crawford
RW, Oloyede A. In vitro degradation of articular cartilage: does trypsin
treatment produce consistent results? Journal of Anatomy 2006; 209: 259-67.
Refereed conference papers
Brown CP, Oloyede A, Moody H, Crawford R. New directions
in the characterisation of cartilage health in vivo. Proceedings of the
IASTED International Conference on Biomechanics. Benidorm, Spain, 2005.
Brown CP, Crawford RW, Oloyede, A. In search of a parameter
to distinguish viable from non-viable articular cartilage – indentation
and ultrasound studies. Advanced Materials Research 2008; 32:223-228.
Patent
Brown CP, Oloyede A, Crawford R. PCT: WO 2008/061296
A1: Testing device and method for use on soft tissues.
Patent
Brown CP, Oloyede A, Crawford R. PCT: WO 2008/061296
A1: Testing device and method for use on soft tissues.
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