4D Printing of High-Performance Thermal-Responsive Liquid Metal Elastomers Driven by Embedded Microliquid Chambers.

Four-dimensional (4D) printing of swellable materials have been viewed as an ideal approach to build shape morphing architectures. However, there is less variety in high-performance swellable materials, limiting its development. To address this challenge, we proposed a new strategy for designing high-performance thermal-responsive swellable materials.

Multimaterial 3D Printing of Highly Stretchable Silicone Elastomers.

3D printing of silicone elastomers with the direct ink writing (DIW) process has demonstrated great potential in areas as diverse as flexible electronics, medical devices, and soft robotics. However, most of current silicones are not printable because of their low viscosity and long curing time. The lack of systematic research on materials, devices, and processes during printing makes it a huge challenge to apply the DIW process more deeply and widely.

Patient-specific three-dimensional printed heart models benefit preoperative planning for complex congenital heart disease.

Background: Preoperative planning for children with congenital heart diseases remains crucial and challenging. This study aimed to investigate the roles of three-dimensional printed patient-specific heart models in the presurgical planning for complex congenital heart disease.

Methods: From May 2017 to January 2018, 15 children diagnosed with complex congenital heart disease were included in this study.

Three-Dimensional Printed Wearable Sensors with Liquid Metals for Detecting the Pose of Snakelike Soft Robots.

Liquid metal (LM)-based flexible sensors, which utilize advanced liquid conductive materials to serve as sensitive elements, are emerging as a promising solution to measure large deformations. Nowadays, one of the biggest challenges for precise control of soft robots is the detection of their real-time positions. Existing fabrication methods are unable to fabricate flexible sensors that match the shape of soft robots.

3D printed Lego-like modular microfluidic devices based on capillary driving.

The field of how to rapidly assemble microfluidics with modular components continuously attracts researchers' attention, however, extra efforts must be devoted to solving the problems of leaking and aligning between individual modules. This paper presents a novel type of modular microfluidic device, driven by capillary force. There is no necessity for a strict seal or special alignment, and its open structures make it easy to integrate various stents and reactants.

Printing@Clinic: From Medical Models to Organ Implants.

Since 1989, three-dimensional (3D) printing has developed rapidly in biomedical engineering because it is individually customizable. By printing medical products at clinics, this powerful tool can be used by doctors, which will enhance the response to surgery and increase the creative freedom of surgeons. In this article, we reviewed the progress of 3D printing in biomedicine with particular emphasis on the types of 3D printing methods that are most suitable for the clinical application, and proposed the concept of Printing@clinic.

Fabrication of cerebral aneurysm simulator with a desktop 3D printer.

Now, more and more patients are suffering cerebral aneurysm. However, long training time limits the rapid growth of cerebrovascular neurosurgeons. Here we developed a novel cerebral aneurysm simulator which can be better represented the dynamic bulging process of cerebral aneurysm The proposed simulator features the integration of a hollow elastic vascular model, a skull model and a brain model, which can be affordably fabricated at the clinic (Fab@Clinic), under $25.

From Microfluidic Paper-Based Analytical Devices to Paper-Based Biofluidics with Integrated Continuous Perfusion.

As a kind of facile tool, microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs) have been widely used in analytical and biomedical fields. However, because we lack the ability to control the continuous perfusion of these devices, they are not generally used in fields that require continuous flow, especially biofluidics fields such as cell culturing, drug screening, and organs on chips. In this study, we designed a novel, low-cost, and compact platform that can be used to control the continuous perfusion of μPADs.

Research on the printability of hydrogels in 3D bioprinting.

As the biocompatible materials, hydrogels have been widely used in three- dimensional (3D) bioprinting/organ printing to load cell for tissue engineering. It is important to precisely control hydrogels deposition during printing the mimic organ structures. However, the printability of hydrogels about printing parameters is seldom addressed.

3D Printed Paper-Based Microfluidic Analytical Devices.

As a pump-free and lightweight analytical tool, paper-based microfluidic analytical devices (μPADs) attract more and more interest. If the flow speed of μPAD can be programmed, the analytical sequences could be designed and they will be more popular. This reports presents a novel μPAD, driven by the capillary force of cellulose powder, printed by a desktop three-dimensional (3D) printer, which has some promising features, such as easy fabrication and programmable flow speed.

A facile and low-cost micro fabrication material: flash foam.

Although many microfabrication methods have been reported, the preliminary replication templates used in most microfabrication still depend on the expensive and long-period photolithography. This paper explores an alternative replication templates based on a daily used material, flash foam (FF), and proposes a facile microfabrication method, flash foam stamp lithography (FFSL). When FF is exposed with a desired pattern mask, the negative of the pattern is transferred to its surface and micro structures are formed due to the shrinkage of the exposed area.

Coaxial nozzle-assisted 3D bioprinting with built-in microchannels for nutrients delivery.

This study offers a novel 3D bioprinting method based on hollow calcium alginate filaments by using a coaxial nozzle, in which high strength cell-laden hydrogel 3D structures with built-in microchannels can be fabricated by controlling the crosslinking time to realize fusion of adjacent hollow filaments. A 3D bioprinting system with a Z-shape platform was used to realize layer-by-layer fabrication of cell-laden hydrogel structures. Curving, straight, stretched or fractured filaments can be formed by changes to the filament extrusion speed or the platform movement speed.

Fabrication of low cost soft tissue prostheses with the desktop 3D printer.

Soft tissue prostheses such as artificial ear, eye and nose are widely used in the maxillofacial rehabilitation. In this report we demonstrate how to fabricate soft prostheses mold with a low cost desktop 3D printer. The fabrication method used is referred to as Scanning Printing Polishing Casting (SPPC).

[The textual research on FANG Dao's life and Fangshijiacangjiyaofang (Collected prescription of Fang family's).].

Fangshijiacangjiyaofang (Collected prescription of Fang family's) is a prescription book compiled by Fang Dao in Southern Song Dynasty, and most of these prescriptions from experience have important clinical guiding values. However, few recorders about the book and its compiler could be found in relevant literature, it is necessary for them to be further verified.