Abstract Electronic textiles capable of sensing, powering, and communication can be used to non-intrusively monitor human health during daily life. However, achieving these functionalities with clothing is challenging because of limitations in the electronic performance, flexibility and robustness of the underlying materials, which must endure repeated mechanical, thermal and chemical stresses during daily use. Here, we demonstrate electronic textile systems with functionalities in near-field powering and communication created by digital embroidery of liquid metal fibers. Owing to the unique electrical and mechanical properties of the liquid metal fibers, these electronic textiles can conform to body surfaces and establish robust wireless connectivity with nearby wearable or implantable devices, even during strenuous exercise. By transferring optimized electromagnetic patterns onto clothing in this way, we demonstrate a washable electronic shirt that can be wirelessly powered by a smartphone and continuously monitor axillary temperature without interfering with daily activities.
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Abstract The freeform generation of active electronics can impart advanced optical, computational, or sensing capabilities to an otherwise passive construct by overcoming the geometrical and mechanical dichotomies between conventional electronics manufacturing technologies and a broad range of three-dimensional (3D) systems. Previous work has demonstrated the capability to entirely 3D print active electronics such as photodetectors and light-emitting diodes by leveraging an evaporation-driven multi-scale 3D printing approach. However, the evaporative patterning process is highly sensitive to print parameters such as concentration and ink composition. The assembly process is governed by the multiphase interactions between solutes, solvents, and the microenvironment. The process is susceptible to environmental perturbations and instability, which can cause unexpected deviation from targeted print patterns. The ability to print consistently is particularly important for the printing of active electronics, which require the integration of multiple functional layers. Here we demonstrate a synergistic integration of a microfluidics-driven multi-scale 3D printer with a machine learning algorithm that can precisely tune colloidal ink composition and classify complex internal features. Specifically, the microfluidic-driven 3D printer can rapidly modulate ink composition, such as concentration and solvent-to-cosolvent ratio, to explore multi-dimensional parameter space. The integration of the printer with an image-processing algorithm and a support vector machine-guided classification model enables automated, in situ pattern classification. We envision that such integration will provide valuable insights in understanding the complex evaporative-driven assembly process and ultimately enable an autonomous optimisation of printing parameters that can robustly adapt to unexpected perturbations.more » « less
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The integration of an ingestible dosage form with sensing, actuation, and drug delivery capabilities can enable a broad range of surgical‐free diagnostic and treatment strategies. However, the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is a highly constrained and complex luminal construct that fundamentally limits the size of an ingestible system. Recent advancements in mesoscale magnetic crawlers have demonstrated the ability to effectively traverse complex and confined systems by leveraging magnetic fields to induce contraction and bending‐based locomotion. However, the integration of functional components (e.g., electronics) in the proposed ingestible system remains fundamentally challenging. Herein, the creation of a centralized compartment in a magnetic robot by imparting localized flexibility (MR‐LF) is demonstrated. The centralized compartment enables MR‐LF to be readily integrated with modular functional components and payloads, such as commercial off‐the‐shelf electronics and medication, while preserving its bidirectionality in an ingestible form factor. The ability of MR‐LF to incorporate electronics, perform drug delivery, guide continuum devices such as catheters, and navigate air–water environments in confined lumens is demonstrated. The MR‐LF enables functional integration to create a highly integrated ingestible system that can ultimately address a broad range of unmet clinical needs. An interactive preprint version of the article can be found at
https://doi.org/10.22541/au.166274072.23086985/v1 . -
Recent advances in 3D printing have enabled the creation of novel 3D constructs and devices with an unprecedented level of complexity, properties, and functionalities. In contrast to manufacturing techniques developed for mass production, 3D printing encompasses a broad class of fabrication technologies that can enable 1) the creation of highly customized and optimized 3D physical architectures from digital designs; 2) the synergistic integration of properties and functionalities of distinct classes of materials to create novel hybrid devices; and 3) a biocompatible fabrication approach that facilitates the creation and co-integration of biological constructs and systems. Developing the ability to 3D print various classes of materials possessing distinct properties could enable the freeform generation of active electronics in unique functional, interwoven architectures. Here we are developing a multiscale 3D printing approach that enables the integration of diverse classes of materials to create a variety of 3D printed electronics and functional devices with active properties that are not easily achieved using standard microfabrication techniques. In one of the examples, we demonstrate an approach to prolong the gastric residence of wireless electronics to weeks via multimaterial three-dimensional design and fabrication. The surgical-free approach to integrate biomedical electronics with the human body can revolutionize telemedicine by enabling a real-time diagnosis and delivery of therapeutic agents.more » « less
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The advent of wearable or body-borne electronics is rapidly changing how the Department of Defense (DoD) provides diagnostic and therapeutic medical care to the warfighter. Multiple DoD entities, from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Chemical Biological Center, to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, are seeking bioelectronics that can transform military medicine by providing medics with valuable information to improve acute care on the battlefield, and aiding military doctors providing prolonged care. For instance, bioelectronics sensors that measure multiple signals, including heartbeat and the secretion of metabolites in perspiration, can provide remote monitoring of warfighter medical status during operations. Next-generation bioelectronics can be delivered by implantation or can be swallowed so as to deliver therapeutic medications. A seamless integration of such bioelectronics with the soft, complex, and 3D shape of the human body is inherently challenging due to the geometrical, material, and mechanical dichotomies between the two. Conventional electronics are typically fabricated via planar, top-down processes on a rigid substrate. Conversely, the human body is an irregularly shaped and highly flexible, stretchable construct. Significant research has been dedicated to overcoming this challenge, including the design of stretchable, flexible electronics, the development of electronic skin tattoos, and the manufacturing of electronic textile and bioelectronic implants. This article proposes and highlights the advancement of a multimaterial and multiscale 3D printing approach that can enable the fabrication of bioelectronics to better interface with the human body. Specifically, the article highlights the development of (a) a freeform electronics fabrication approach that allows for the creation of complex 3D systems, and (b) the multimaterial-printing of an ingestible gastric resident system that allows for non-surgical and needle-free delivery of wireless electronics into the human body.more » « less
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Reinforcement learning control methods can impart robots with the ability to discover effective behavior, reducing their modeling and sensing requirements, and enabling their ability to adapt to environmental changes. However, it remains challenging for a robot to achieve navigation in confined and dynamic environments, which are characteristic of a broad range of biomedical applications, such as endoscopy with ingestible electronics. Herein, a compact, 3D‐printed three‐linked‐sphere robot synergistically integrated with a reinforcement learning algorithm that can perform adaptable, autonomous crawling in a confined channel is demonstrated. The scalable robot consists of three equally sized spheres that are linearly coupled, in which the extension and contraction in specific sequences dictate its navigation. The ability to achieve bidirectional locomotion across frictional surfaces in open and confined spaces without prior knowledge of the environment is also demonstrated. The synergistic integration of a highly scalable robotic apparatus and the model‐free reinforcement learning control strategy can enable autonomous navigation in a broad range of dynamic and confined environments. This capability can enable sensing, imaging, and surgical processes in previously inaccessible confined environments in the human body.
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Abstract The synergistic integration of nanomaterials with 3D printing technologies can enable the creation of architecture and devices with an unprecedented level of functional integration. In particular, a multiscale 3D printing approach can seamlessly interweave nanomaterials with diverse classes of materials to impart, program, or modulate a wide range of functional properties in an otherwise passive 3D printed object. However, achieving such multiscale integration is challenging as it requires the ability to pattern, organize, or assemble nanomaterials in a 3D printing process. This review highlights the latest advances in the integration of nanomaterials with 3D printing, achieved by leveraging mechanical, electrical, magnetic, optical, or thermal phenomena. Ultimately, it is envisioned that such approaches can enable the creation of multifunctional constructs and devices that cannot be fabricated with conventional manufacturing approaches.
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