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Scale-up of nature's tissue weaving algorithms to engineer advanced functional materials
Joanna L Ng1, Lillian E Knothe1,2, Renee M Whan3
1Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW) Australia, Sydney, Australia.
Scientific Reports
|January 12, 2017
Summary
Researchers developed a new method to mimic natural soft tissue structures for advanced materials. This technique maps and scales microscopic tissue weaves, enabling the creation of functional prototypes with enhanced resilience and smart properties.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Tissue Engineering
- Materials Science
Background:
- Natural soft tissues possess remarkable resilience and multifunctional properties due to the intricate arrangement of structural proteins like collagen and elastin.
- The periosteum, a soft tissue surrounding bones, exemplifies a 'smart' material that enhances bone strength under impact.
- Current limitations in scalable bottom-up approaches hinder the translation of natural tissue complexity into advanced functional materials.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish a scalable bottom-up approach for replicating the multidimensional fiber patterns of natural soft tissues.
- To harness the biological, mechanical, and organizational details of smart tissues for advanced material development.
- To create macroscopic tissue prototypes with enhanced functional properties.
Main Methods:
- Utilized second harmonic generation and two-photon excitation microscopy to map the 3D alignment, composition, and distribution of collagen and elastin fibers in periosteum.
- Employed engineering rendering software to scale up the natural tissue fabric architecture.
- Applied multidimensional weaving algorithms and a computer-controlled jacquard loom for rapid prototyping.
Main Results:
- Successfully mapped the microscopic structure of periosteum's collagen and elastin fibers.
- Developed a method to scale up natural tissue weave patterns for macroscopic prototyping.
- Demonstrated the creation of advanced functional material prototypes inspired by natural tissue architecture.
Conclusions:
- The developed approach enables the rapid prototyping of advanced functional materials by scaling natural soft tissue weaves.
- This provides a novel pathway to create materials with tailored biological, mechanical, and organizational properties.
- The ability to replicate complex natural architectures opens new possibilities in biomaterials and tissue engineering.
