Inspiration from nature and its translation to designing the next generation of biomedical devices have received immense attention recently. Biologically inspired materials utilise billions of years of evolution to generate diverse properties that would otherwise be difficult to achieve. These materials have the potential to address many limitations associated with more traditional materials. T...

Most dental materials are designed to have a relatively 'neutral' existence in the mouth. It is considered that if they are 'passive' and do not react with the oral environment they will be more stable and have a greater durability. At the same time, it is hoped that our materials will be well accepted and will cause neither harm nor injury. This is an entirely negative approach to material tol...

A smart structure is a system containing multifunctional parts that can perform sensing, control, and actuation; it is a primitive analogue of a biological body. Smart materials are used to construct these smart structures, which can perform both sensing and actuation functions. The ‘‘I.Q.’’ of smart materials is measured in terms of their ‘‘responsiveness’’ to environmental stimuli and their ‘...

Sensors and actuators that respond locally avoid overburdening data analysis networks