Search Results (150)

Background/Objectives: Three-dimensional bioprinting technology has enabled great advances in the treatment of articular cartilage (AC) defects by the biofabrication of biomimetic constructs that restore and/or regenerate damaged tissue. In this sense, the selection of suitable cells and biomaterials to bioprint constructs that mimic the architecture, composition, and functionality of the natural extracellular matrix (ECM) of the native tissue is crucial. In the present study, a novel cartilage-like biomimetic hybrid construct (CBC) was developed by 3D bioprinting to facilitate and promote AC regeneration. Methods: The CBC was biofabricated by the co-bioprinting of a bioink based on hyaluronic acid (HA) and alginate (AL) loaded with human mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs), with polylactic acid supporting the biomaterial, in order to mimic the microenvironment and structural properties of native AC, respectively. The CBC was biologically in vitro characterized. In addition, its physiochemical characteristics were evaluated in order to determine if the presence of hMSCs modified its properties. Results: Results from biological analysis demonstrated that CBC supported the high viability and proliferation of hMSCs, facilitating chondrogenesis after 5 weeks in vitro. The evaluation of physicochemical properties in the CBCs confirmed that the CBC developed could be suitable for use in cartilage tissue engineering. Conclusions: The results demonstrated that the use of bioprinted CBCs based on hMSC-AL/HA-bioink for AC repair could enhance the regeneration and/or formation of hyaline cartilaginous tissue. Full article

Hydrogels play a crucial role due to their high-water content and 3D structure, which make them ideal for various applications in biomedicine, sensing, and beyond. They can be prepared from a variety of biomaterials, polymers, and their combinations, allowing for versatility in properties and applications. Hydrogels include natural types derived from collagen, gelatin, alginate, and hyaluronic acid, as well as synthetic types based on polyethylene glycol (PEG), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and polyacrylamide (PAAm). Each type possesses distinct properties, such as mechanical strength, biodegradability, and biocompatibility, which can be tailored for applications such as wound healing, contact lenses, 3D bioprinting, and tissue engineering. The high-water content of hydrogels mimics natural tissue environments, promoting cell growth and allowing nutrient and waste exchange, which supports the development of functional tissues. They serve as scaffolds in tissue engineering applications, including wound healing, cartilage and bone regeneration, vascular tissue engineering, and organ-on-a-chip systems. Additionally, hydrogels can encapsulate and deliver therapeutic agents, such as growth factors or drugs, to specific target sites in the body. Hydrogels can be prepared through three primary methods: physical crosslinking, which relies on non-covalent interactions such as physical entanglements or hydrogen bonding; chemical crosslinking, which forms covalent bonds between polymer chains to create a stable structure; and irradiation-based crosslinking, where UV irradiation induces rapid hydrogel formation. The choice of crosslinking method depends on the desired properties and applications of the hydrogel. By providing a biomimetic environment, hydrogels facilitate cell growth and differentiation, support tissue formation, and aid in the regeneration of damaged or diseased tissues while delivering therapeutic agents. This review focuses on the critical advancements in processing routes for hydrogel development, summarizing the characterization and application of hydrogels. It also details key applications, including wound healing and cartilage and bone regeneration, as well as the challenges and future perspectives in the field. Full article

In this study, our primary focus is the biomimetic design and rigorous evaluation of an economically viable and portable ‘e-nose’ system, tailored for the precise detection of a broad range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in local Thai craft spirits. This e-nose system is innovatively equipped with cost-efficient metal oxide gas sensors and a temperature/humidity sensor, ensuring comprehensive and accurate sensing. A custom-designed real-time data acquisition system is integrated, featuring gas flow control, humidity filters, dual sensing/reference chambers, an analog-to-digital converter, and seamless data integration with a laptop. Deep learning, utilizing a multilayer perceptron (MLP), is employed to achieve highly effective classification of local Thai craft spirits, demonstrated by a perfect classification accuracy of 100% in experimental studies. This work underscores the significant potential of biomimetic principles in advancing cost-effective, portable, and analytically precise e-nose systems, offering valuable insights into future applications of advanced gas sensor technology in food, biomedical, and environmental monitoring and safety. Full article

Biomimetic hydrogel lubrication coatings with high wettability and low friction show great promise in tissue engineering, wound dressing, drug delivery, and intelligent sensing. Inspired by the hierarchical structure of natural cartilage, a layered hydrogel coating was constructed to functionalize rigid polyetheretherketone (PEEK). The layered hydrogel coating features a structural design comprising a top soft layer and a middle robust layer. The porous structure of the top soft hydrogel layer stores water molecules, providing surface lubrication, while the dense structure of the middle robust hydrogel layer offers load-bearing capacity. These synergistic effects of the gradient hydrogel layer endow the PEEK substrate with an ultra-low coefficient of friction (COF~0.010 at 5 N load), good load-bearing capacity (COF~0.031 at 10 N load), and excellent wear resistance (COF < 0.05 at 5 N load after 20,000 sliding cycles). This study introduces a novel design paradigm for robust hydrogel coatings with exceptional lubricity, displaying the potential application in cartilage replacement materials. Full article

To face the challenges in preparing hydrogel fibers with complex structures and functions, this study utilized a microfluidic coaxial co-extrusion technique to successfully form functional hydrogel fibers through rapid ionic crosslinking. Functional hydrogel fibers with complex structures, including linear fibers, core–shell structure fibers, embedded helical channels, hollow tubes, and necklaces, were generated by adjusting the composition of internal and external phases. The characteristic parameters of the hydrogel fibers (inner and outer diameter, helix generation position, pitch, etc.) were achieved by adjusting the flow rate of the internal and external phases. As biocompatible materials, hydrogel fibers were endowed with electrical conductivity, temperature sensitivity, mechanical enhancement, and freeze resistance, allowing for their use as temperature sensors for human respiratory monitoring and other biomimetic application developments. The hydrogel fibers had a conductivity of up to 22.71 S/m, a response time to respiration of 37 ms, a recovery time of 1.956 s, and could improve the strength of respiration; the tensile strength at break up to 8.081 MPa, elongation at break up to 159%, and temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) up to −13.080% °C⁻¹ were better than the existing related research. Full article

Bio-inspired strategies for robotic sensing are essential for in situ manufactured sensors on the Moon. Sensors are one crucial component of robots that should be manufactured from lunar resources to industrialize the Moon at low cost. We are concerned with two classes of sensor: (a) position sensors and derivatives thereof are the most elementary of measurements; and (b) light sensing arrays provide for distance measurement within the visible waveband. Terrestrial approaches to sensor design cannot be accommodated within the severe limitations imposed by the material resources and expected manufacturing competences on the Moon. Displacement and strain sensors may be constructed as potentiometers with aluminium extracted from anorthite. Anorthite is also a source of silica from which quartz may be manufactured. Thus, piezoelectric sensors may be constructed. Silicone plastic (siloxane) is an elastomer that may be derived from lunar volatiles. This offers the prospect for tactile sensing arrays. All components of photomultiplier tubes may be constructed from lunar resources. However, the spatial resolution of photomultiplier tubes is limited so only modest array sizes can be constructed. This requires us to exploit biomimetic strategies: (i) optical flow provides the visual navigation competences of insects implemented through modest circuitry, and (ii) foveated vision trades the visual resolution deficiencies with higher resolution of pan-tilt motors enabled by micro-stepping. Thus, basic sensors may be manufactured from lunar resources. They are elementary components of robotic machines that are crucial for constructing a sustainable lunar infrastructure. Constraints imposed by the Moon may be compensated for using biomimetic strategies which are adaptable to non-Earth environments. Full article

Biomimetic neuromorphic sensing systems, inspired by the structure and function of biological neural networks, represent a major advancement in the field of sensing technology and artificial intelligence. This review paper focuses on the development and application of electrolyte gated transistors (EGTs) as the core components (synapses and neuros) of these neuromorphic systems. EGTs offer unique advantages, including low operating voltage, high transconductance, and biocompatibility, making them ideal for integrating with sensors, interfacing with biological tissues, and mimicking neural processes. Major advances in the use of EGTs for neuromorphic sensory applications such as tactile sensors, visual neuromorphic systems, chemical neuromorphic systems, and multimode neuromorphic systems are carefully discussed. Furthermore, the challenges and future directions of the field are explored, highlighting the potential of EGT-based biomimetic systems to revolutionize neuromorphic prosthetics, robotics, and human–machine interfaces. Through a comprehensive analysis of the latest research, this review is intended to provide a detailed understanding of the current status and future prospects of biomimetic neuromorphic sensory systems via EGT sensing and integrated technologies. Full article

Brain-inspired flexible neuromorphic devices are of great significance for next-generation high-efficiency wearable sensing and computing systems. In this paper, we propose a flexible organic electrochemical transistor using poly[(bithiophene)-alternate-(2,5-di(2-octyldodecyl)- 3,6-di(thienyl)-pyrrolyl pyrrolidone)] (DPPT-TT) as the organic semiconductor and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/LiClO₄ solid-state electrolyte as the gate dielectric layer. Under gate voltage modulation, an electric double layer (EDL) forms between the dielectric layer and the channel, allowing the device to operate at low voltages. Furthermore, by leveraging the double layer effect and electrochemical doping within the device, we successfully mimic various synaptic behaviors, including excitatory post-synaptic currents (EPSC), paired-pulse facilitation (PPF), high-pass filtering characteristics, transitions from short-term plasticity (STP) to long-term plasticity (LTP), and demonstrate its image recognition and storage capabilities in a 3 × 3 array. Importantly, the device’s electrical performance remains stable even after bending, achieving ultra-low-power consumption of 2.08 fJ per synaptic event at −0.001 V. This research may contribute to the development of ultra-low-power neuromorphic computing, biomimetic robotics, and artificial intelligence. Full article

Hydrogels are gaining popularity for use in wearable electronics owing to their inherent biomimetic characteristics, flexible physicochemical properties, and excellent biocompatibility. Among various hydrogels, conductive polymer-based hydrogels (CP HGs) have emerged as excellent candidates for future wearable sensor designs. These hydrogels can attain desired properties through various tuning strategies extending from molecular design to microstructural configuration. However, significant challenges remain, such as the limited strain-sensing range, significant hysteresis of sensing signals, dehydration-induced functional failure, and surface/interfacial malfunction during manufacturing/processing. This review summarizes the recent developments in polymer-hydrogel-based wearable electrochemical biosensors over the past five years. Initially serving as carriers for biomolecules, polymer-hydrogel-based sensors have advanced to encompass a wider range of applications, including the development of non-enzymatic sensors facilitated by the integration of nanomaterials such as metals, metal oxides, and carbon-based materials. Beyond the numerous existing reports that primarily focus on biomolecule detection, we extend the scope to include the fabrication of nanocomposite conductive polymer hydrogels and explore their varied conductivity mechanisms in electrochemical sensing applications. This comprehensive evaluation is instrumental in determining the readiness of these polymer hydrogels for point-of-care translation and state-of-the-art applications in wearable electrochemical sensing technology. Full article

Recent developments in biomimetic hydrogel research have expanded the scope of biomedical technologies that can be used to model, diagnose, and treat a wide range of medical conditions. Cancer presents one of the most intractable challenges in this arena due to the surreptitious mechanisms that it employs to evade detection and treatment. In order to address these challenges, biomimetic design principles can be adapted to beat cancer at its own game. Biomimetic design strategies are inspired by natural biological systems and offer promising opportunities for developing life-changing methods to model, detect, diagnose, treat, and cure various types of static and metastatic cancers. In particular, focusing on the cellular and subcellular phenomena that serve as fundamental drivers for the peculiar behavioral traits of cancer can provide rich insights into eradicating cancer in all of its manifestations. This review highlights promising developments in biomimetic nanocomposite hydrogels that contribute to cancer therapies via enhanced drug delivery strategies and modeling cancer mechanobiology phenomena in relation to metastasis and synergistic sensing systems. Creative efforts to amplify biomimetic design research to advance the development of more effective cancer therapies will be discussed in alignment with international collaborative goals to cure cancer. Full article

Monitoring agricultural toxins such as mycotoxins is crucial for a healthy society. High concentrations of these toxins lead to the cause of several chronic diseases; therefore, developing analytical systems for detecting/monitoring agricultural toxins is essential. These toxins are found in crops such as vegetables, fruits, food, and beverage products. Currently, screening of these toxins is mostly performed with sophisticated instrumentation such as chromatography and spectroscopy techniques. However, these techniques are very expensive and require extensive maintenance, and their availability is limited to metro cities only. Alternatively, electrochemical biomimetic sensing methodologies have progressed hugely during the last decade due to their unique advantages like point-of-care sensing, miniaturized instrumentations, and mobile/personalized monitoring systems. Specifically, affinity-based sensing strategies including immunosensors, aptasensors, and molecular imprinted polymers offer tremendous sensitivity, selectivity, and stability to the sensing system. The current review discusses the principal mechanisms and the recent developments in affinity-based sensing methodologies for the detection and continuous monitoring of mycotoxins and pesticides. The core discussion has mainly focused on the fabrication protocols, advantages, and disadvantages of affinity-based sensing systems and different exploited electrochemical transduction techniques. Full article

Nitrites widely exist in human life and the natural environment, but excessive contents of nitrites will result in adverse effects on the environment and human health; hence, sensitive and stable nitrite detection systems are needed. In this study, we report the synthesis of Ti₃C₂ nanosheets functionalized with apoferritin (ApoF)–biomimetic platinum (Pt) nanoparticle (Pt@ApoF/Ti₃C₂) composite materials, which were formed by using ApoF as a template and protein-inspired biomineralization. The formed nanohybrid exhibits excellent electrochemical sensing performance towards nitrite (NaNO₂). Specifically, the Pt@ApoF catalyzes the conversion of nitrites into nitrates, converting the chemical signal into an electrical signal. The prepared Pt@ApoF/Ti₃C₂-based electrochemical NaNO₂ biosensors demonstrate a wide detection range of 0.001–9 mM with a low detection limit of 0.425 μM. Additionally, the biosensors possess high selectivity and sensitivity while maintaining a relatively stable electrochemical sensing performance within 7 days, enabling the monitoring of NaNO₂ in complex environments. The successful preparation of the Pt@ApoF/Ti₃C₂ nanohybrid materials provides a new approach for constructing efficient electrochemical biosensors, offering a simple and rapid method for detecting NaNO₂ in complex environments. Full article

The article examines the main characteristics of white brine cheeses from different manufacturers and changes in their quality indicators. These characteristics include the active acidity, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, oxidation–reduction potential, and organoleptic assessment. In this context, the connection to biomimetics lies in the approach of integrating multiple sensory modalities, similar to how biological systems often use multiple senses to perceive and understand their environment. For this purpose, spectral, ultrasonic, and gas characteristics were used, from which informative indices were extracted, united at a later stage in a vector of features. Based on the classification, it was found that the optical characteristics of cheeses from different manufacturers overlap, thus making it possible to predict the main indicators for each type of cheese. The results show that the use of a multimodal approach combining features from different sensors contributes to a better understanding of the variations in cheese properties, while improving the predictive abilities of the created models. The obtained results give a clear idea of the quality of the cheese, thus enabling adequate decisions to be made during the production process. Full article

Inspired by nature’s remarkable ability to form intricate minerals, researchers have unlocked transformative strategies for creating next-generation biosensors with exceptional sensitivity, selectivity, and biocompatibility. By mimicking how organisms orchestrate mineral growth, biomimetic and bioinspired materials are significantly impacting biosensor design. Engineered bioinspired materials offer distinct advantages over their natural counterparts, boasting superior tunability, precise controllability, and the ability to integrate specific functionalities for enhanced sensing capabilities. This remarkable versatility enables the construction of various biosensing platforms, including optical sensors, electrochemical sensors, magnetic biosensors, and nucleic acid detection platforms, for diverse applications. Additionally, bioinspired materials facilitate the development of smartphone-assisted biosensing platforms, offering user-friendly and portable diagnostic tools for point-of-care applications. This review comprehensively explores the utilization of naturally occurring and engineered biominerals and materials for diverse biosensing applications. We highlight the fabrication and design strategies that tailor their functionalities to address specific biosensing needs. This in-depth exploration underscores the transformative potential of biominerals and materials in revolutionizing biosensing, paving the way for advancements in healthcare, environmental monitoring, and other critical fields. Full article

Future automotive mobility is predominantly electric. Compared to existing systems, the requirements of subsystems change. Air flow for cooling components is needed predominantly when the car is in rest (i.e., charging) or at slow speeds. So far, actively driven fans consuming power and generating noise are used in this case. Here we propose a passive adaptive system allowing for convection-driven cooling. The developed system is a highly adaptive flat valve derived from the bordered pit. It was developed through an iterative design process including simulations, both structural and thermodynamic. In hardwoods and conifers, bordered pits enable the challenging transport of vertical fluids by locally limiting damage. Depending on the structure, these can close at sudden pressure changes and take the function of valves. The result of the biomimetic abstraction process is a system-integrative, low-profile valve that is cheap to produce, long-lasting, lightweight, maintenance-free, and noise-free. It allows for the passive switching of air flow generation at the heat exchanger of the cooling between natural convection or an active airstream without the need for complex sensing and control systems. The geometric and material design factors allow for the simple tuning of the valve to the desired switching conditions during the design process. Full article