research
Our group's goal is to study multi-material manufacturing technologies and device designs to enable biomedical devices and soft material systems with applications in human health, space, and more. We have an emphasis on multi-material printing of soft electronics and soft robotics. Among human health applications, we focus on the vascular system, where we build advanced biomedical devices, implantable sensors, and soft material models to better understand, treat, and monitor vascular diseases. We also study soft, multifunctional materials with a wide range of use cases, including space-grade soft materials and electronics.
COLLABORATORS
Debkalpa Goswami, PhD – Cleveland Clinic
Sharjeel Chaudhry, MD – Johns Hopkins Medicine
Chris Wohl, PhD – NASA Langley Research Center
LSU Health Sciences Center
BD Medical
FUNDING
SMART MEDICAL DEVICES
We are interested in developing manufacturing techniques to enable complex, multi-material structures and three-dimensional electronic architectures for biomedical devices, bio-interfaced electronics, and soft robotics. We are focused on adapting existing medical manufacturing technologies (rotational laser machining, wire braiding, and molding) and applying different printing techniques (aerosol jet, inkjet, direct ink writing, and more) to embed electronics and intelligence into well-established medical device structures.
VASCULAR electronics
Vascular diseases account for nearly a third of deaths across the world. By creating implantable vascular electronics, we can provide wireless and unobtrusive monitoring of vascular health and diseases. We aim to replace conventional vascular devices with smart electronic systems for remote sensing and actuation. We are also interested in developing soft electronics and robotics systems for design evaluations of vascular devices and treatments and for use in vascular disease models.
multi-MATERIAL printing
Printing offers the ability to pattern a wide range of materials in three-dimensional designs. We aim to harness this ability for bio-interfaced electronics and soft robotics. Included in this work is applying multi-axis, robot-assisted control of printing towards conformal printing and tuning of material systems. Beyond biomedical systems, the printing of electronics is of interest for in-space manufacturing.
WEARABLE electronics
Comfortable, soft electronics interfaced with the skin offer improved health monitoring, diagnostics, treatments, and rehabilitation. We are interested in printing wearable systems, applying three-dimensional structures, and creating patient-specific devices across a broad range of applications.
multifunctional MATERIALS
Soft, elastomeric materials filled with functional fillers, including liquid metal, can mimic biological materials and demonstrate exceptional mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties. We look at developing and characterizing functional materials for soft sensors and actuators.
