Development and evaluation of a soft pneumatic muscle for elbow joint rehabilitation.

Elbow joint rehabilitation presents a formidable challenge, underscored by the joint's complex biomechanics and high vulnerability to injuries and degenerative conditions. Despite the advancements in rehabilitative technology, current solutions such as rigid exoskeletons often fall short in providing the precision, flexibility, and customization needed for effective treatment. Although traditional robotic aids, such as rigid exoskeletons, help recover, they lack in providing sufficient flexibility, comfort, and easy customization with no need for complicated calculation and complex design considerations.

Investigating Zigzag Film Growth Behaviors in Layer-by-Layer Self-Assembly of Small Molecules through a High-Gravity Technique.

The zigzag film growth behavior in the layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly method is a ubiquitous phenomenon for which the growth mechanism was rarely investigated, especially for small molecules. To interpret the zigzag increasing manner, we hypothesized that the desorption kinetics of small molecules was dominant for the film growth behavior and demonstrated this hypotheis by introducing the high-gravity technique into the LbL assembly of a typical polyelectrolyte/small molecule system of polyethylenimine (PEI) and meso-tetra(4-carboxyphenyl)porphine (Por). The results showed that the high-gravity technique remarkably accelerated the desorption process of Por; the high-gravity LbL assembly provides a good platform to reveal the desorption kinetics of Por, which is tedious to study in conventional situation.

Adjusting the Ion Permeability of Polyelectrolyte Multilayers through Layer-by-Layer Assembly under a High Gravity Field.

The layer-by-layer (LbL) assembled multilayer has been widely used as good barrier film or capsule due to the advantages of its flexible tailoring of film permeability and compactness. Although many specific systems have been proposed for film design, developing a versatile strategy to control film compactness remains a challenge. We introduced the simple mechanical energy of a high gravity field to the LbL assembly process to tailor the multilayer permeability through adjusting film compactness.