Sharbatian Ali, Devkota Kalyani, Ashouri Vajari Danesh, Stieglitz Thomas
Laboratory for Biomedical Microtechnology, Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK), University of Freiburg, 79110 Freiburg, Germany.
BrainLinks BrainTools, Institute for Machine-Brain Interfacing Technology (IMBIT), University of Freiburg, 79110 Freiburg, Germany.
Micromachines (Basel). 2023 Sep 27;14(10):1846. doi: 10.3390/mi14101846.
The present study investigates different design strategies to produce non-wettable micropatterned surfaces. In addition to the classical method of measuring the contact angle, the non-wettability is also discussed by means of the immersion test. Inspired by non-wettable structures found in nature, the effects of features such as reentrant cavities, micropillars, and overhanging layers are studied. We show that a densely populated array of small diameter cavities exhibits superior non-wettability, with 65% of the cavities remaining intact after 24 h of full immersion in water. In addition, it is suggested that the wetting transition time is influenced by the length of the overhanging layer as well as by the number of columns within the cavity. Our findings indicate a non-wetting performance that is three times longer than previously reported in the literature for a small, densely populated design with cavities as small as 10 μm in diameter. Such properties are particularly beneficial for neural implants as they may reduce the interface between the body fluid and the solid state, thereby minimiing the inflammatory response following implantation injury. In order to assess the effectiveness of this approach in reducing the immune response induced by neural implants, further in vitro and in vivo studies will be essential.
本研究探讨了制备不可湿润微图案表面的不同设计策略。除了测量接触角的经典方法外，还通过浸没试验来讨论不可湿润性。受自然界中不可湿润结构的启发，研究了诸如凹腔、微柱和悬垂层等特征的影响。我们发现，密集排列的小直径腔阵列具有优异的不可湿润性，在完全浸入水中24小时后，65%的腔仍保持完好。此外，研究表明，润湿转变时间受悬垂层长度以及腔内柱体数量的影响。我们的研究结果表明，对于直径小至10μm的密集小设计，其不润湿性能比文献中先前报道的长三倍。这些特性对于神经植入物特别有益，因为它们可以减少体液与固态之间的界面，从而将植入损伤后的炎症反应降至最低。为了评估这种方法在减少神经植入物诱导的免疫反应方面的有效性，进一步的体外和体内研究至关重要。
