3D Biomimetic Tongue-Emulating Surfaces for Tribological Applications

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Oral Mechanics
• Surface Engineering

Background:

• The human tongue's complex surface, featuring micropapillae, influences food transport, speech, and sensory perception.
• Designing artificial tongue surfaces is challenging due to the tongue's unique biophysical properties.
• Understanding tongue-food interactions is limited by the lack of biomimetic surfaces.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate a 3D soft biomimetic surface that accurately replicates human tongue topography and wettability.
• To develop a tool for fundamental research into tongue-food/fluid interactions.
• To enable precise quantification of mechanical interactions within the oral mucosa.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing 3D printing with a Poisson point process for random papillae distribution.
• Employing micromolding techniques with soft silicone to create the biomimetic surface.
• Modifying surface wettability to mimic the natural tongue environment.

Main Results:

• The fabricated surface successfully replicates the papillae distribution and collision probability of a real human tongue.
• The biomimetic surface demonstrates tribological performance comparable to human tongue masks.
• This represents the first successful creation of a 3D soft biomimetic tongue surface.

Conclusions:

• The developed biomimetic tongue surface provides a novel platform for studying oral mechanics.
• This advancement facilitates accurate quantification of soft oral mucosa interactions.
• The research opens new avenues for biomimetic material design and oral health research.