skip to main content


Search for: All records

Creators/Authors contains: "Bai, Wubin"

Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

  1. Abstract

    Breath ammonia is an essential biomarker for patients with many chronic illnesses, such as chronic kidney disease (CKD), chronic liver disease (CLD), urea cycle disorders (UCD), and hepatic encephalopathy. However, existing breath ammonia sensors fail to compensate for the impact of breath humidity and complex breathing motions associated with a human breath sample. Here, a multimodal breath sensing system is presented that integrates an ammonia sensor based on a thermally cleaved conjugated polymer, a humidity sensor based on reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and a breath dynamics sensor based on a 3D folded strain‐responsive mesostructure. The miniaturized construction and module‐based configuration offer flexible integration with a broad range of masks. Experimental results present the capabilities of the system in continuously detecting diagnostic ranges of breath ammonia under real, humid breath conditions with sufficient sensing accuracy and selectivity over 3 weeks. A machine‐learning algorithm based on K‐means clustering decodes multimodal signals collected from the breath sensor to differentiate between healthy and diseased breath concentrations of ammonia. The on‐body test highlights the operational simplicity and practicality of the system for noninvasively tracing ammonia biomarkers.

     
    more » « less
    Free, publicly-accessible full text available February 10, 2025
  2. Abstract

    Transdermal drug delivery is of vital importance for medical treatments. However, user adherence to long-term repetitive drug delivery poses a grand challenge. Furthermore, the dynamic and unpredictable disease progression demands a pharmaceutical treatment that can be actively controlled in real-time to ensure medical precision and personalization. Here, we report a spatiotemporal on-demand patch (SOP) that integrates drug-loaded microneedles with biocompatible metallic membranes to enable electrically triggered active control of drug release. Precise control of drug release to targeted locations (<1 mm2), rapid drug release response to electrical triggers (<30 s), and multi-modal operation involving both drug release and electrical stimulation highlight the novelty. Solution-based fabrication ensures high customizability and scalability to tailor the SOP for various pharmaceutical needs. The wireless-powered and digital-controlled SOP demonstrates great promise in achieving full automation of drug delivery, improving user adherence while ensuring medical precision. Based on these characteristics, we utilized SOPs in sleep studies. We revealed that programmed release of exogenous melatonin from SOPs improve sleep of mice, indicating potential values for basic research and clinical treatments.

     
    more » « less
  3. A microfolding strategy realizes kirigami at nanoscale to form 3D shape-morphable microelectronic systems in freestanding forms. 
    more » « less
  4.  
    more » « less
  5. Abstract

    Physically transient forms of electronics enable unique classes of technologies, ranging from biomedical implants that disappear through processes of bioresorption after serving a clinical need to internet-of-things devices that harmlessly dissolve into the environment following a relevant period of use. Here, we develop a sustainable manufacturing pathway, based on ultrafast pulsed laser ablation, that can support high-volume, cost-effective manipulation of a diverse collection of organic and inorganic materials, each designed to degrade by hydrolysis or enzymatic activity, into patterned, multi-layered architectures with high resolution and accurate overlay registration. The technology can operate in patterning, thinning and/or cutting modes with (ultra)thin eco/bioresorbable materials of different types of semiconductors, dielectrics, and conductors on flexible substrates. Component-level demonstrations span passive and active devices, including diodes and field-effect transistors. Patterning these devices into interconnected layouts yields functional systems, as illustrated in examples that range from wireless implants as monitors of neural and cardiac activity, to thermal probes of microvascular flow, and multi-electrode arrays for biopotential sensing. These advances create important processing options for eco/bioresorbable materials and associated electronic systems, with immediate applicability across nearly all types of bioelectronic studies.

     
    more » « less
  6. null (Ed.)
  7. null (Ed.)
  8. Tissue-on-chip systems represent promising platforms for monitoring and controlling tissue functions in vitro for various purposes in biomedical research. The two-dimensional (2D) layouts of these constructs constrain the types of interactions that can be studied and limit their relevance to three-dimensional (3D) tissues. The development of 3D electronic scaffolds and microphysiological devices with geometries and functions tailored to realistic 3D tissues has the potential to create important possibilities in advanced sensing and control. This study presents classes of compliant 3D frameworks that incorporate microscale strain sensors for high-sensitivity measurements of contractile forces of engineered optogenetic muscle tissue rings, supported by quantitative simulations. Compared with traditional approaches based on optical microscopy, these 3D mechanical frameworks and sensing systems can measure not only motions but also contractile forces with high accuracy and high temporal resolution. Results of active tension force measurements of engineered muscle rings under different stimulation conditions in long-term monitoring settings for over 5 wk and in response to various chemical and drug doses demonstrate the utility of such platforms in sensing and modulation of muscle and other tissues. Possibilities for applications range from drug screening and disease modeling to biohybrid robotic engineering.

     
    more » « less
  9. null (Ed.)
  10. null (Ed.)