Professors Thomas J. Webster and Karen M. Haberstroh were cited in the July/August issue of Materials Today in a research news note entitled "Bio-enhancing Topography: Surface Engineering" as follows:

Treating the increasing number of bladder cancer cases in the developed world requires more effective biomaterials for reconstruction surgery. In recent years, various groups have investigated the use of synthetic biodegradable polymers for such applications because they can be readily fabricated into a wide range of designs. It has also been argued that the biological resorption of the material offers advantages over nondegradable materials with respect to long-term risks of infection and poor tissue biocompatibility. Despite the evaluation of a wide range of suitable materials, there has been limited success in their use in this field because of problems with mechanical instability and bioincompatibility. A key challenge has been the need to enhance the appropriate interaction between the implanted material and remaining bladder tissue.

Previous studies have suggested that improved biological interaction between bladder reconstruction materials and native tissue may be achieved by mimicking the nanoscale topography o the natural materials on the surface of the implanted materials. Thomas J. Webster, Karen M. Haberstroh, and coworkers from Purdue University have extended this earlier work by investigating the effects of surface topography on bladder smooth muscle cell function over a period of five days (Biomaterials (2003), 24, 2915). They used a chemical etching process to produce nanostructures on the surface of poly(actic-co-glycolic acid) and poly(ether urethane) films. Their work shows that cell number increases with both surface roughness and chemistry, but the former has the greatest effect. Surface topography, therefore, clearly has advantages for the development of biomimetic materials for biomedical applications.