Foam density mapping via THz imaging.

Plastic foams, near-ubiquitous in everyday life and industry, show properties that depend primarily on density. Density measurement, although straightforward in principle, is not always easy. As such, while several methods are available, plastic foam industry is not yet supported with a standard technique that effectively enables to control density maps. To overcome this issue, this paper proposes Terahertz (THz) time-of-flight imaging using normal reflection measurements as a fast, relatively cheap, contactless, non-destructive and non-dangerous way to map plastic foam density, based on the expected relationship between density and refractive index. The approach is demonstrated in the case of polypropylene foams. First, the relationship between the estimated effective refractive index and the polypropylene foam density is derived by characterizing a set of carefully crafted samples having uniform density in the range 70-900 kg/m3. The obtained calibration curve subtends a linear relationship between the density and the refractive index in the range of interest. This relationship is validated against a set of test samples, whose estimated average densities are consistent with the nominal ones, with an absolute error lower than 10 kg/m3 and a percentage error on the estimate of 5%. Exploiting the calibration curve, it is possible to build quantitative images depicting the spatial distribution of the sample density. THz images are able to reveal the non-uniform density distribution of some samples, which cannot be appreciated from visual inspection. Finally, the complex spatial density pattern of a graded foam sample is characterized and quantitatively compared with the density map obtained via X-ray microscopy. The comparison confirms that the proposed THz approach successfully determines the density pattern with an accuracy and a spatial scale variability compliant with those commonly required for plastic foam density estimate.

Influence of Magnetic Scaffold Loading Patterns on Their Hyperthermic Potential Against Bone Tumors.

Magnetic scaffolds have been investigated as promising tools for the interstitial hyperthermia treatment of bone cancers, to control local recurrence by enhancing radio- and chemotherapy effectiveness. The potential of magnetic scaffolds motivates the development of production strategies enabling tunability of the resulting magnetic properties. Within this framework, deposition and drop-casting of magnetic nanoparticles on suitable scaffolds offer advantages such as ease of production and high loading, although these approaches are often associated with a non-uniform final spatial distribution of nanoparticles in the biomaterial. The implications and the influences of nanoparticle distribution on the final therapeutic application have not yet been investigated thoroughly. In this work, poly-caprolactone scaffolds are magnetized by loading them with synthetic magnetic nanoparticles through a drop-casting deposition and tuned to obtain different distributions of magnetic nanoparticles in the biomaterial. The physicochemical properties of the magnetic scaffolds are analyzed. The microstructure and the morphological alterations due to the reworked drop-casting process are evaluated and correlated to static magnetic measurements. THz tomography is used as an innovative investigation technique to derive the spatial distribution of nanoparticles. Finally, multiphysics simulations are used to investigate the influence on the loading patterns on the interstitial bone tumor hyperthermia treatment.