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tissue engineering

Shape-shifting hydrogel takes cue from plants, moves to light

The emerging field of soft robotics, which involves mimicking the squishiness and stickiness of such creatures as octopuses, starfish, and squid, may be taking its next cue from a different source: plants.

Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley describe in the journal Nano Letters a new hydrogel that, inspired by phototropism (the phenomenon of plants moving toward light), can actually expand and shrink in a very controlled fashion via light.

"Shape-changing gels such as ours could have applications for drug delivery and tissue engineering," principal investigator Seung-Wuk Lee, associated professor of bioengineering, said in a school … Read more

Could smart Biomask regenerate burned faces?

Within five years, soldiers who suffer facial burns could have their faces regrown by wearing intelligent biomechanical masks, according to research out of the University of Texas at Arlington.

Eileen Moss of the university's Automation & Robotics Research Institute is collaborating with the U.S. Army and Northwestern University to build a prototype Biomask equipped with tiny sensors and actuators.

Under conventional treatment, damaged tissue is removed and replaced with grafts. The procedure, however, can sometimes produce speech problems, deformities, and scarring; it can require multiple operations.

The Biomask consists of a rigid, face-shaped shell and covering flexible polymer layers that contain arrays of electrical and mechanical components. … Read more