Ocular drug delivery remains a grand challenge due to the complex structure of the eye. Here, we introduce a unique platform of ocular drug delivery through the integration of silicon nanoneedles with a tear-soluble contact lens. The silicon nanoneedles can penetrate into the cornea in a minimally invasive manner and then undergo gradual degradation over the course of months, enabling painless and long-term sustained delivery of ocular drugs. The tear-soluble contact lens can fit a variety of corneal sizes and then quickly dissolve in tear fluid within a minute, enabling an initial burst release of anti-inflammatory drugs. We demonstrated the utility of this platform in effectively treating a chronic ocular disease, such as corneal neovascularization, in a rabbit model without showing a notable side effect over current standard therapies. This platform could also be useful in treating other chronic ocular diseases.
Eggshell membrane has selective permeability that enables gas or liquid molecules to pass through while effectively preventing migration of microbial species. Herein, inspired by the architecture of the eggshell membrane, we employ three-dimensional (3D) printing techniques to realize bioresponsive devices with excellent selective permeability for effective biochemical conversion. The fabricated devices show 3D conductive carbon nanofiber membranes in which precultured microbial cells are controllably deployed. The resulting outcome provides excellent selective permeability between chemical and biological species, which enables acquisition of target responses generated by biological species confined within the device upon input signals. In addition, electrically conductive carbon nanofiber networks provide a platform for real-time monitoring of metabolism of microbial cells in the device. The suggested platform represents an effort to broaden microbial applications by constructing biologically programmed devices for desired responses enabled by designated deployment of engineered cells in a securely confined manner within enclosed membranes using 3D printing methods.
Quasi-three-dimensionally
designed metal–dielectric hybrid
nanoantennas have provided a unique capability to control light at
the nanoscale beyond the diffraction limit, which has enabled powerful
optical manipulation techniques. However, the fabrication of these
nanoantennas has largely relied on the use of nanolithography techniques
that are time- and cost-consuming, impeding their application in wide-ranging
use. Herein, we report a versatile methodology enabling the repetitive
replication of these nanoantennas from their silicon molds with tailored
optical features for infrared bandpass filtering. Comprehensive experimental
and computational analyses revealed the underlying mechanism of this
methodology and also provided a technical guideline for pragmatic
translation into infrared filters in multispectral imaging.
3D printable synthetic
materials have been developed to realize
desired surface and mechanical properties. Lubricating synthetic surfaces
have broad technological impacts on many applications including food
packaging, microfluidic systems, and biomedical devices. However,
combining soft materials with lubricants leads to significant phase
separation and swelling phenomena, together with lowered mechanical
strength, impeding full utilization of lubricating synthetic surfaces
with desired shapes in a highly controllable manner. Here, we report
a new platform to create a 3D printable lubricant–polymer composite
(3D-LUBRIC) for the seamless fabrication of multidimensional structures
with diverse functionalities. The rationally designed lubricant–polymer
mixtures including silica aerogel particles not only exhibit suitable
rheological properties for direct ink writing without phase separation
but also enable the deterministic additive assembly of heterogeneous
materials, which have large mismatches of oil permeability, with no
distinct shape distortion. While exhibiting excellent lubricating
properties for a variety of liquids, 3D-LUBRIC shows tunable mechanical
properties with desired functionalities, such as optical transparency,
flexibility and stretchability, and anti-icing and antibacterial/bactericidal
properties. We employ the proposed platform to fabricate self-cleanable
containers and antibacterial/bactericidal medical tubes. Our platform
can offer new opportunities for building low-adhesive, multifunctional
synthetic materials with customized shapes for diverse applications.
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