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Updated: Feb 15, 2026

A Decentralized Ex Vivo Murine Bladder Model with the Detrusor Muscle Removed for Direct Access to the Suburothelium during Bladder Filling
Published on: November 28, 2019
Soft Artificial Bladder Detrusor
Xuxu Yang1, Chengrui An2,3, Shuting Liu4
1Soft Matter Research Center, Key Laboratory of Soft Machines and Smart Devices of Zhejiang Province, Department of Engineering Mechanics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310027, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Developing soft devices for invasive procedures bears great importance for human health. The softness and large strain actuation of responsive hydrogels promise the potential to fabricate soft devices, which can attach on and assist to the function of organs. The key challenges lie in the fabrication of soft devices with robust actuating ability and biocompatibility to the attached organ. This paper presents a solution that integrates the thermoresponsive hydrogel membrane with flexible electronics and silk scaffold into a balloon-like soft device. As an example, the actuation assisting function of this soft device for shrinking an animal bladder is presented. The mechanical behaviors of the balloon-like soft device are experimentally and theoretically investigated. The concepts are applicable to other applications such as soft implants, soft robotics, and microfluidics.
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