Developing Biologically Relevant Artificial Substrates for Bioadhesive TestingdissertationsLyakhovych, ZakharcreatorShukla, AnitaReaderMathiowitz, EdithAdvisorWong, IanReaderBrown University. Biology and Medicine: Biomedical Engineeringsponsor2023vii, 25 p.born digitalThesis (Sc. M.)--Brown University, 2023thesesBioadhesion, defined as the phenomena of adherence between natural tissue and synthetic materials, is an important property with relevance in a wide range of biomedical fields such as drug delivery and implantable devices. Understanding the bioadhesive properties of polymers and how to control them has significant implications for both oral and topical drug delivery. Current bioadhesive testing methods vary significantly across the field, utilizing a wide range of approaches to studying several different aspects of bioadhesion. With macroscopic drug delivery fracture theory is the dominant force and can be quantitatively measured. Current approaches to testing fracture theory often use cadaver tissue. This has limitations with viability, with tissue decomposition beginning almost immediately, and biological relevance, with moisture and tissue-to-tissue variation creating high variability in readings. By creating an artificial substrate that is meant to mimic a physiological environment, variability in bioadhesive measurements can be consistently reduced and provide a comparison across runs that cadaver tissue would not show as well as allowing extensive testing without the excessive use of ex-vivo models.Polymer FilmsPolymeric drug delivery systemsBiomedical engineering--ResearchPolycaprolactoneBioadhesionCurcuminChitosanEx VivoMucinsEnglishRPB20230602