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

Objective

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.