Development of a novel hybrid securing actuator for a self-securing soft robotic hand exoskeleton.

The development of soft robotic hand exoskeletons for rehabilitation has been well-reported in the literature, whereby the emphasis was placed on the development of soft actuators for flexion and extension. Little attention was focused on developing the glove interface and attachments of actuators to the hand. As these hand exoskeletons are largely developed for personnel with impaired hand function for rehabilitation, it may be tedious to aid the patients in donning and doffing the glove, given that patients usually have stiff fingers exhibiting high muscle tone.

Scalable alignment of three-dimensional cellular constructs in a microfluidic chip.

There have been considerable efforts to engineer three-dimensional (3D) microfluidic environments to enhance cellular function over conventional two-dimensional (2D) cultures in microfluidic chips, but few involve topographical features, such as micro/nano-grooves, which are beneficial for cell types of cardiac, skeletal and neuronal lineages. Here we have developed a cost-effective and scalable method to incorporate micro-topographical cues into microfluidic chips to induce cell alignment. Using commercially available optical media as molds for replica molding, we produced large surface areas of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) micro-grooved substrates and plasma-bonded them to multiple microfluidic chips.

Scalable cell alignment on optical media substrates.

Cell alignment by underlying topographical cues has been shown to affect important biological processes such as differentiation and functional maturation in vitro. However, the routine use of cell culture substrates with micro- or nano-topographies, such as grooves, is currently hampered by the high cost and specialized facilities required to produce these substrates. Here we present cost-effective commercially available optical media as substrates for aligning cells in culture.