Researchers Design New Inks for 3D-Printable Wearable Bioelectronics
06 February 2023: Flexible electronics have enabled the design of sensors, actuators, microfluidics and electronics on flexible, conformal and/or stretchable sublayers for wearable, implantable or ingestible applications. However, these devices have very different mechanical and biological properties when compared to human tissue and thus cannot be integrated with the human body.
A team of researchers at Texas A&M University has developed a new class of biomaterial inks that mimic native characteristics of highly conductive human tissue, much like skin, which are essential for ink to be used in 3D printing.
“The impact of this work is far-reaching in 3D printing,” said Dr. Akhilesh Gaharwar, Associate Professor in Department of Biomedical Engineering and Presidential Impact Fellow. “This newly designed hydrogel ink is highly biocompatible and electrically conductive, paving the way for next generation of wearable and implantable bioelectronics.”
Researchers at Gaharwar Laboratory have developed a new nanoengineered bioink for 3D-printable wearable bioelectronics. These 3D-printable devices are electronically active and can monitor dynamic human motion, paving the way for continuous motion monitoring.
In order to 3D print the ink, researchers in the Gaharwar Laboratory designed a cost-effective, open-source, multi-head 3D bioprinter that is fully functional and customizable, running on open-source tools and freeware. This also allows any researcher to build 3D bioprinters tailored to fit their own research needs.
The electrically conductive 3D-printed hydrogel ink can create complex 3D circuits and is not limited to planar designs, allowing researchers to make customizable bioelectronics tailored to patient-specific requirements.
In utilizing these 3D printers, Deo was able to print electrically active and stretchable electronic devices. These devices demonstrate extraordinary strain-sensing capabilities and can be used for engineering customizable monitoring systems. This also opens up new possibilities for designing stretchable sensors with integrated microelectronic components.
www.engineering.tamu.edu
