Engineering and commercialization of human-device interfaces, from bone to brain.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Tissue Engineering
• Regenerative Medicine

Background:

• Advanced engineering of tissues, implants, and devices enables control over physiological structure-function relationships.
• Designing effective human-device interfaces that modulate information transfer (forces, electrical potentials, chemical gradients) is a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review current approaches and challenges in engineering human-device interfaces.
• To highlight common paradigms between seemingly disparate systems like the musculoskeletal and nervous systems for innovative interface design.
• To address regulatory and technical challenges for translating new technologies into clinical applications.

Main Methods:

• Focus on specific examples from the authors' laboratories.
• Analysis of functional barrier interfaces controlling molecular and biophysical traffic (e.g., in knee joints).
• Engineering gradients for interfaces between endogenous and engineered tissues, and for neural-musculoskeletal coupling electrodes.

Main Results:

• Demonstrates shared principles between musculoskeletal and nervous systems applicable to interface design.
• Presents examples of functional barrier interfaces and engineered gradients for tissue integration.
• Discusses regulatory and technical aspects for translating implantable devices for tissue healing.

Conclusions:

• Innovative human-device interface design can be inspired by understanding common principles across biological systems.
• Effective interfaces require control over biophysical and chemical transport.
• Translation of engineered interfaces necessitates addressing regulatory and technical hurdles for patient benefit.