Magneto-Mechanical Technology for Bioinspired Material Testing and Ex-Vivo Diagnosis

Descripción del proyecto

Pruebas mecánicas más inteligentes para materiales blandos y tejidos biológicos

Medir con precisión las propiedades mecánicas de materiales blandos y tejidos biológicos resulta fundamental para la medicina regenerativa, el diagnóstico tisular, la administración de fármacos y el diseño de materiales bioinspirados. Los métodos de prueba tradicionales requieren laboratorios especializados y personal capacitado. Además, son lentos, costosos y pueden dañar muestras delicadas. Teniendo esto en cuenta, el proyecto MAGMATED, financiado por el Consejo Europeo de Investigación, desarrollará una plataforma portátil e inteligente que combine polímeros magnetoactivos con activación magnética. La plataforma deformará suavemente las muestras en condiciones realistas. A continuación, modelos informáticos avanzados mapearán la rigidez y las propiedades viscoelásticas en todo el material de forma rápida y precisa. El objetivo general es avanzar en el diseño de materiales bioinspirados y desarrollar herramientas de diagnóstico capaces de detectar cambios mecánicos patológicos.

Objetivo

Natural hydrogels and bioinspired soft materials are changing paradigms in regenerative medicine, drug delivery, microfluidics and
soft robotics applications. Their use requires a comprehensive mechanical characterisation over time that is currently limited by the
need of several and costly experimental setups. These equipment faces difficulties for imposing hydrating and thermal conditions,
and for gripping samples during testing without damaging them or introducing undesirable stress concentrations that compromise
the validity of the results. Another research area that faces the same issues and limitations is the mechanical testing of ex vivo tissue
for diagnosis. MAGMATED platform will comprise an intelligent system and integrated data-driven method to mechanically
characterise soft materials and biological tissues, providing a fast spatial distribution of apparent stiffness and viscoelastic properties.
It builds on our results on magneto-active polymers (MAP) and magnetic actuation control to induce deformation under realistic in
vitro conditions. The platform will integrate MAPs as sample holders with a computational framework combining data-driven and
physical models to determine the spatial distribution of mechanical properties, from recorded deformation images. Multiple force
combinations on the sample, along with inverse engineering approaches, will enable a comprehensive and accurate spatial
characterization surpassing existing methods. MAGMATED has the potential to significantly reduce testing times and costs for
mechanical characterisation of soft biological materials and tissues, providing a portable platform that does not require extensive
user’s expertise. We expect a profound impact on testing and design protocols in bioinspired scaffolds, regenerative medicine or
diagnosis. The simplified and cost-effective system will also broaden access to mechanical testing across diverse facilities, eliminating
the need for dedicated laboratory space.