Hasebe Arihiro, Suematsu Yoshitaka, Takeoka Shinji, Mazzocchi Tommaso, Vannozzi Lorenzo, Ricotti Leonardo, Fujie Toshinori
Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, TWIns, 2-2, Sinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8480, Japan.
The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, 56025 Pontedera, Pisa, Italy.
ACS Biomater Sci Eng. 2019 Nov 11;5(11):5734-5743. doi: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.8b01550. Epub 2019 Apr 1.
This paper describes a biohybrid actuator consisting of a microgrooved thin film, powered by contractile, aligned skeletal muscle cells. The system was made of a thermoplastic elastomer [SBS, poly(styrene--butadiene--styrene)]. We prepared SBS thin films with different thicknesses (0.5-11.7 μm) and Young's moduli (46.7-68.6 MPa) to vary their flexural rigidity. The microgrooves on the SBS thin film resembled the microstructure of the extracellular matrix of muscle and facilitated the alignment and differentiation of skeletal muscle cells. Electrical stimulation was applied to self-standing biohybrid thin films to trigger their contraction, enabled by the low flexural rigidity of the SBS thin film. Finite element model simulations were also examined to predict their contractile behavior. We achieved the prediction of displacements, which were rather close to the actual values of the SBS thin film: the discrepancy was <5% on the axis. These results pave the way for prediction of the contractile capabilities of elastomeric thin films. This study highlights the potential of microgrooved SBS thin films as ultraflexible platforms for biohybrid machines.
本文描述了一种生物杂交致动器，它由一个微槽薄膜组成，由收缩性的、排列整齐的骨骼肌细胞提供动力。该系统由热塑性弹性体[SBS，聚（苯乙烯-丁二烯-苯乙烯）]制成。我们制备了具有不同厚度（0.5-11.7μm）和杨氏模量（46.7-68.6MPa）的SBS薄膜，以改变其弯曲刚度。SBS薄膜上的微槽类似于肌肉细胞外基质的微观结构，有助于骨骼肌细胞的排列和分化。通过对自立式生物杂交薄膜施加电刺激来触发其收缩，这得益于SBS薄膜较低的弯曲刚度。还进行了有限元模型模拟，以预测其收缩行为。我们实现了位移预测，预测值与SBS薄膜的实际值相当接近：在轴向上的差异<5%。这些结果为预测弹性体薄膜的收缩能力铺平了道路。这项研究突出了微槽SBS薄膜作为生物杂交机器超柔性平台的潜力。
