Related papers: Reactive fungal insoles
Various foot complications can be easily avoided by continuous monitoring of foot plantar temperature and pressure. In this work, the design, characterization, and implementation of a Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG) based smart insole capable of…
Living mycelial filaments integrate chemical, optical, mechanical, thermal, and biological information via electrophysiological cellular trans-membrane potential. The challenge is to create a mycology interface that sustains metabolism,…
Structural health monitoring (SHM) using self-sensing cement-based materials has been reported before, where nano-fillers have been incorporated in cementitious matrices as functional sensing elements. A percolation threshold is always…
Materials made from active, living, or robotic components can display emergent properties arising from local sensing and computation. Here, we realize a freestanding active metabeam with piezoelectric elements and electronic feed-forward…
We stimulate mycelian networks of oyster fungi Pleurotus ostreatus with low frequency sinusoidal electrical signals. We demonstrate that the fungal networks can discriminate between frequencies in a fuzzy or threshold based manner. Details…
Cellulose, as a naturally abundant and biocompatible material, is still gaining interest due to its high potential for functionalization. This makes cellulose a promising candidate for replacing plastics. Understanding how cellulose…
Plantar pressure measurement, or pedobarography, is an essential tool for analyzing human motion in healthy individuals and patients. Across the reviewed literature, sensor insoles are motivated as wearable, mobile solutions for assessing…
Oyster fungi \emph{Pleurotus djamor} generate actin potential like spikes of electrical potential. The trains of spikes might manifest propagation of growing mycelium in a substrate, transportation of nutrients and metabolites and…
The excellent structural and piezoresistive properties of continuous carbon fiber make it suitable for both structural and sensing applications. This work studies the use of 3D printed, continuous carbon fiber reinforced beams as…
Wearable exoskeletons hold transformative promise for restoring mobility across diverse users with muscular weakness or other impairments. However, their translation beyond laboratory environments remains limited by sensing systems that…
Active materials capable of autonomously modulating their mechanical properties are foundational to the development of next-generation soft technologies. Here, we introduce a novel class of extensible biohybrid hydrogels powered by living…
Midsoles are important components in footwear as they provide shock absorption and stability, thereby improving comfort and effectively preventing certain foot and ankle injuries. A rationally tailored midsole can potentially mitigate…
Nanofibrillated cellulose, a polymer that can be obtained from one of the most abundant biopolymers in Nature, is being increasingly explored due to its outstanding properties for packaging and device applications. Still, open challenges in…
Adhesion-dependent cells actively sense the mechanical properties of their environment through mechanotransductory processes at focal adhesions, which are integrin-based contacts connecting the extracellular matrix to the cytoskeleton. Here…
This study documents a three-week workshop with architecture students, where we designed and 3D printed various minimal surfaces using wood-based filaments, and used them as molds in which to grow mycelium. We detail the design process and…
The study discusses the design and fabrication of flexible pressure sensors using Ecoflex/Graphene composites. The fabricated sensor is used for the application of intuitive monitoring of human quality gaits and implementation of the soft…
Self-propulsion and navigation due to the sensing of environmental conditions - such as durotaxis and chemotaxis - are remarkable properties of biological cells that cannot be reproduced by single-component self-propelled particles. We…
Non-conductive materials like rubbers, plastics, ceramics, and even semiconductors have the property of flexoelectricity, which means that they can generate electricity when bent and twisted. However, an irregular shape or a peculiar load…
Many types of mammalian cells exert active contractile forces and mechanically deform their elastic substrate, to accomplish biological functions such as cell migration. These substrate deformations provide a mechanism by which cells can…
Flagellar-driven locomotion plays a critical role in bacterial attachment and colonization of surfaces, contributing to the risks of contamination and infection. Tremendous attempts to uncover the underlying principles governing bacterial…