A 3D-Printed Sensor for Monitoring Biosignals in Small Animals

Although additive manufacturing technologies, also known as 3D printing, were first introduced in the 1980s, they have recently gained remarkable popularity owing to decreased costs. 3D printing has already emerged as a viable technology in many industries; in particular, it is a good replacement for microfabrication technology. Microfabrication technology usually requires expensive clean room equipment and skilled engineers; however, 3D printing can reduce both cost and time dramatically. Although 3D printing technology has started to emerge into microfabrication manufacturing and medical applications, it is typically limited to creating mechanical structures such as hip prosthesis or dental implants. There have been increased interests in wearable devices and the critical part of such wearable devices is the sensing part to detect biosignals noninvasively. In this paper, we have built a 3D-printed sensor that can measure electroencephalogram and electrocardiogram from zebrafish. Despite measuring biosignals noninvasively from zebrafish has been known to be difficult due to that it is an underwater creature, we were able to successfully obtain electrophysiological information using the 3D-printed sensor. This 3D printing technique can accelerate the development of simple noninvasive sensors using affordable equipment and provide an economical solution to physiologists who are unfamiliar with complicated microfabrication techniques.