Liquid metal biomaterials for biomedical imaging

Gao, Wenwen; Wang, Yige; Wang, Qian; Ma, Guolin; Jing, Liu

doi:10.1039/d1tb02399c

Cited by 35 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 91 publications

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“…[12] For biomedical applications, eutectic gallium indium (EGaIn) is an ideal stimulus because it is liquid at room temperature and has been explored extensively in biointerfacing applications like skin-integrated electronics and drug delivery, possessing demonstrated biocompatibility in various formats. [13][14][15][16][17][18] Gallium alloys like EGaIn are known to severely embrittle aluminum, which can be used to construct biomedical structures and devices that withstand significant mechanical loads during their functional lifetime while retaining the ability to be eliminated non-invasively at end-of-life (Figure 1C). Aluminum is also regularly ingested from food consumption at an average rate of 10 mg day −1 , though normal consumption can reach levels as high as 1 g day −1 since aluminum is a common component of pharmaceutical products.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Actively Triggerable Metals via Liquid Metal Embrittlement for Biomedical Applications

et al. 2023

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Actively triggerable materials, which break down upon introduction of an exogenous stimulus, enable precise control over the lifetime of biomedical technologies, as well as adaptation to unforeseen circumstances, such as changes to an established treatment plan. Yet, most actively triggerable materials are low‐strength polymers and hydrogels with limited long‐term durability. By contrast, metals possess advantageous functional properties, including high mechanical strength and conductivity, that are desirable across several applications within biomedicine. To realize actively triggerable metals, a mechanism called liquid metal embrittlement is leveraged, in which certain liquid metals penetrate the grain boundaries of certain solid metals and cause them to dramatically weaken or disintegrate. In this work, it is demonstrated that eutectic gallium indium (EGaIn), a biocompatible alloy of gallium, can be formulated to reproducibly trigger the breakdown of aluminum within different physiologically relevant environments. The breakdown behavior of aluminum after triggering can further be readily controlled by manipulating its grain structure. Finally, three possible use cases of biomedical devices constructed from actively triggerable metals are demonstrated.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Actively Triggerable Metals via Liquid Metal Embrittlement for Biomedical Applications

et al. 2023

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“…13–15 The surface of Ga is typically covered with a self-limiting oxide layer that can be further functionalised with a variety of chemical and biological coatings for anti-bacterial activity, drug delivery, imaging, targeting and sensing applications. 11,12,16–20 Gallium-based droplets are now being routinely investigated as a new type of biocompatible soft platform with unique fluidity and physicochemical properties for biomedical applications and nanomedicine. 10,12,13,21–27…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A liquid metal–polydopamine composite for cell culture and electro-stimulation

et al. 2023

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“…Gallium-based liquid metals (LMs) are metal alloys with a low melting point and high conductivity ( σ = 3.4 × 10 4 S/cm); good fluidity (viscosity ≈2 MPaS); and high deformability ( Zheng et al, 2019 ; Hang et al, 2021 ; Zhang et al, 2022 ). At present, LM has shown great utility value in soft robots ( Wang et al, 2018 ; Zheng et al, 2022 ), biomedicine ( Feig et al, 2022 ; Gao et al, 2022 ), energy management ( Zuraiqi et al, 2020 ; Zhang et al, 2021 ), flexible electronics ( Liang et al, 2022 ), etc. Besides, LM is suitable for manufacturing stretchable conductors because it can easily deform with the stretching and bending of flexible substrates ( Wang et al, 2023 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Liquid metal integrated PU/CNT fibrous membrane for human health monitoring

Tang

et al. 2023

Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.

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Wearable flexible sensors are widely used in several applications such as physiological monitoring, electronic skin, and telemedicine. Typically, flexible sensors that are made of elastomeric thin-films lack sufficient permeability, which leads to skin inflammation, and more importantly, affects signal detection and consequently, reduces the sensitivity of the sensor. In this study, we designed a flexible nanofibrous membrane with a high air permeability (6.10 mm/s), which could be effectively used to monitor human motion signals and physiological signals. More specifically, a flexible membrane with a point (liquid metal nanoparticles)-line (carbon nanotubes)-plane (liquid metal thin-film) multiscale conductive structure was fabricated by combining liquid metal (LM) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with a polyurethane (PU) nanofibrous membrane. Interestingly, the excellent conductivity and fluidity of the liquid metal enhanced the sensitivity and stability of the membrane. More precisely, the gauge factor (GF) values of the membrane is 3.0 at 50% strain and 14.0 at 400% strain, which corresponds to a high strain sensitivity within the whole range of deformation. Additionally, the proposed membrane has good mechanical properties with an elongation at a break of 490% and a tensile strength of 12 MPa. Furthermore, the flexible membrane exhibits good biocompatibility and can efficiently monitor human health signals, thereby indicating potential for application in the field of wearable electronic devices.

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Liquid metal biomaterials for biomedical imaging

Abstract: Liquid metals (LMs) not only retain the basic properties of metallic biomaterials, such as high thermal conductivity, high electrical conductivity, but also possess flexibility, flowability, deformability, plasticity, good adhesion, and...

Cited by 35 publications

References 91 publications

Actively Triggerable Metals via Liquid Metal Embrittlement for Biomedical Applications

Actively Triggerable Metals via Liquid Metal Embrittlement for Biomedical Applications

A liquid metal–polydopamine composite for cell culture and electro-stimulation

Liquid metal integrated PU/CNT fibrous membrane for human health monitoring

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