Micropatterned silicone elastomer substrates for high resolution analysis of cellular force patterns.

High-Resolution, Large-Area Fabrication of Compliant Electrodes via Laser Ablation for Robust, Stretchable Dielectric Elastomer Actuators and Sensors.

A key element in stretchable actuators, sensors, and systems based on elastomer materials are compliant electrodes. While there exist many methodologies for fabricating electrodes on dielectric elastomers, very few succeed in achieving high-resolution patterning over large areas. We present a novel approach for the production of mechanically robust, high-resolution compliant electrodes for stre...

Dynamics of cell shape and forces on micropatterned substrates predicted by a cellular Potts model.

Micropatterned substrates are often used to standardize cell experiments and to quantitatively study the relation between cell shape and function. Moreover, they are increasingly used in combination with traction force microscopy on soft elastic substrates. To predict the dynamics and steady states of cell shape and forces without any a priori knowledge of how the cell will spread on a given mi...

Study of Fibroblast Cells Behavior on the Acrylic Acid Co2 Pulsed Laser Grafted Silicone Elastomer for Tissue Engineering Application

Friction enhancement via micro-patterned wet elastomer adhesives on small intestinal surfaces.

A micro-pillar-based silicone rubber adhesive coated with a thin silicone oil layer is investigated in this paper for developing friction-based clamping mechanisms for robotic endoscopic microcapsules. These adhesives are shown to enhance the frictional force between the capsule and the intestinal wall by a factor of about seven over a non-patterned flat elastomer material. In this study, tests...

Micropatterned surfaces for reducing the risk of catheter-associated urinary tract infection: an in vitro study on the effect of sharklet micropatterned surfaces to inhibit bacterial colonization and migration of uropathogenic Escherichia coli.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is the most common device-associated infection and can result in serious medical consequences. We studied the efficacy of a novel microscopic physical surface modification (Sharklet) for preventing bacterial colonization and migration of uropathogenic Escherichia coli on silicone elastomer. MATERIALS AND METHODS In vit...