Seminars in 2022/2023 - Seminar Series
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Delivery of Biologics
7 AUG 2023 10:00amBiomacromolecule-based imaging agents and therapeutics such as DNA, RNA, and proteins are often superior in structural and functional diversity compared to small molecules and are easier to design or screen. Despite these fundamental advantages, the power and impact of biomacromolecule-based agents are often undermined by the delivery challenge. In this talk, I will discuss a couple of new strategies for targeted and intracellular delivery of biologics with applications in both basic biology studies and drug discovery.
Venue: LT-4 (Mr & Mrs David T F Chow Lecture Theatre), Level 4, Yeung Building, CityU Speaker: Professor Xiaohu Gao, Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington at Seattle, USA
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Standalone stretchable device platform for biomedicine
8 AUG 2023 4:00pmConventional electronics today form on the planar surfaces of brittle wafer substrates and are not compatible with 3D deformable surfaces. As a result, stretchable electronic devices have been developed for continuous health monitoring. Practical applications of the next-generation stretchable electronics hinge on the integration of stretchable sustained power supplies with highly sensitive on-skin sensors and wireless transmission modules. This talk presents the challenges, design strategies, and novel fabrication processes behind a potential standalone stretchable device platform that (a) integrates with 3D curvilinear dynamically changing surfaces, and (b) dissolves completely after its effective operation. The resulting device platform creates application opportunities in fundamental biomedical research, disease diagnostic confirmation, healthy aging, human-machine interface, and smart internet of things.
Venue: LT-8 Lecture Theatre, 4/F, Yeung Kin Man Academic Building Speaker: Prof. Huanyu CHENG, The Pennsylvania State University, USA
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Minimally Invasive Devices for Biomedical Applications
7 JUL 2023 2:30pmBiomedical sensing is the key to access biological information. In recent years. The development of biosensing has gradually evolved from detection from blood detection level to in situ detection on tissue or cellular level. The technology of detection has also evolved from single point detection, to in situ sensing for long time or even sensing with high resolution. Among the existing in situ biosensing technologies, non-invasive sensing does not reach the detection target in the tissue, making it difficult to accurately reflect the real situation. Invasive sensing through implanted devices, on the other hand, has safety concerns. Therefore, how to balance safety and accuracy has been challenging in the field of biosensing. Microneedle arrays, as a minimally invasive technology, can balance the accuracy of invasive sensing with the safety of non-invasive sensing. Our research of minimally invasive biosensing technology employs microneedle arrays as the core structure to penetrate skin layers or cell membranes minimally invasively to detect information in tissues or cells in vivo. The key technologies we have developed for minimally invasive devices consist of three aspects: first, the delicate preparation of microneedle arrays and the preparation of highly sensitive sensing modules on the surface of microneedles; second, the development of technologies for efficient and safe penetration of microneedle arrays through tissue mucosa and cell membranes. The third is the design and development of miniaturized multifunctional circuit systems to support the functions of minimally invasive devices. The minimally invasive biosensing technologies we have developed have been validated and applied in penetrating cell membranes to record intracellular physiological signals, penetrating organ mucosa layers to measure biochemical signals in tissues, and penetrating skin layers to measure in vivo physiological signals, respectively. These minimally invasive biosensing technologies are expected to provide new tools and solutions for the diagnosis and treatment of major diseases.
Venue: LT-7 Lily Chiang Lecture Theatre, 4/F, Yeung Kin Man Academic Building Speaker: Dr. Xie Xi, Sun Yat-sen University, China
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Plenty of room under the skin
7 JUL 2023 10:30amThe use of wearable electronic devices that can acquire vital signs from the human body noninvasively and continuously is a significant trend for healthcare. The combination of materials design and advanced microfabrication techniques enables the integration of various components and devices onto a wearable platform, resulting in functional systems with minimal limitations on the human body. Physiological signals from deep tissues are particularly valuable as they have a stronger and faster correlation with the internal events within the body compared to signals obtained from the surface of the skin. In this presentation, I will demonstrate a soft ultrasonic technology that can noninvasively and continuously acquire dynamic information about deep tissues and central organs. I will also showcase examples of this technology's use in recording blood pressure and flow waveforms in central vessels, monitoring cardiac chamber activities, and measuring core body temperatures. The soft ultrasonic technology presented represents a platform with vast potential for applications in consumer electronics, defense medicine, and clinical practices.
Venue: LT-7 Lily Chiang Lecture Theatre, 4/F, Yeung Kin Man Academic Building Speaker: Dr. Sheng Xu, Associate Professor, Department of NanoEngineering, University of California San Diego, USA
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Soft Bioelectronics for Heart and Brain Disease
14 JUN 2023 10:30amRecent advances in soft electronics have attracted great attention due in large to its potential applications in personalized bio-integrated healthcare devices. The mechanical mismatch between conventional electronic devices and soft human tissues/organs oftentimes causes various challenges, such as the low signal-to-noise ratio of the biosensors, inflammations and/or excessive immune responses near the implanted devices, and unsatisfactory electrical/chemical stimulations in feedback therapies. Therefore, the ultra-flexible, stretchable, and bioresorbable electronic devices have been developed and applied, since their mechanical and material properties are compatible with the in-vivo environment and thus they have a high potential to solve the aforementioned issues. To develop such bioelectronic devices, nanomaterials, their composites, and biodegradable materials have been researched. In this seminar, the unconventional electronic material and device strategies and their applications to the treatment of heart and brain diseases are presented. The integration of wireless technologies with the unconventional bioelectronics could provide additional opportunities, and the related results of the wireless bioelectronics are also briefly introduced. These efforts in the development of various unconventional materials and bioelectronic devices are expected to contribute to addressing many unsolved issues in clinical medicine.
Venue: LT-7 Lily Chiang Lecture Theatre, 4/F, Yeung Kin Man Academic Building Speaker: Professor Dae-Hyeong Kim, Seoul National University, South Korea
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Origami-based Mechanical Metamaterials for Robotics and Beyond
1 JUN 2023 10:30amOrigami, the art of paper folding, is being transformed by scientists, mathematicians, and engineers into innovative design approaches to harness its unique properties, i.e., crease-dependent tunable properties. Inspired by this property, this talk will be started by presenting the stability of origami structures for on-demand deployability and compressibility through designed loading and unloading passes, its applications in robotics, followed by curved origami patterns to enable in-situ stiffness manipulation covering negative, zero, and positive stiffness, and origami-enabled mechanical haptics with application in the metaverse. These studies open ways to design origami-based mechanical metamaterials with variable applications.
Venue: B6619 BME/MNE/ADSE Conference Room, Yeung Kin Man Academic Building Speaker: Professor Hanqing Jiang, Westlake University, China
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Biomimetic Rubbery Synaptic Electronics and Integrated Systems
1 May 2023 10:30am-12:00noonSynapses are unique and critical biological structures that allow for the transmission of electrical or chemical signals thus to enable neurons to communicate with each other. Embodied within human or animals, the synapse is usually soft and able to accommodate various forms of mechanical deformations. Artificial synapse electronics that can be stretched similar to those appearing in human or animals could be seamlessly integrated other soft functional systems towards enabled neurological functions. This presentation will show our recent efforts on developing stretchable synaptic electronics fully made out of rubbery electronic materials. Rubbery synaptic devices are enablers for various soft systems with implemented neurologic functions. Examples including soft neurorobots, cognitive smart skins, neuromorphic imaging devices will be introduced.
Venue: B6605 College Conference Room, Yeung Kin Man Academic Building Speaker: Dr. Cunjiang Yu, Pennsylvania State University
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Citrate Chemistry and Biology for Biomaterials Design and Applications
13 DEC 2022 2:30pm-4:30pmLeveraging the multifunctional nature of citrate in chemistry and inspired by its important biological roles in human tissues, a class of highly versatile and functional citrate-based biomaterials has been developed. Citric acid, historically known as an intermediate in the Krebs cycle, is a multifunctional, nontoxic, readily available, and inexpensive cornerstone monomer used in the design of citrate-based biomaterials. In addition to the convenient citrate chemistry for the syntheses of a number of versatile polymers that may be elastomeric, mechanically strong and tough, injectable, photocrosslinkable, tissue adhesive, photoluminescent, and/or electrically conductive, citric acid also presents inherent anti-bacterial, anti-clotting, angiogenic, and metabonegenic characteristics, which make citrate biomaterials ideal for a number of medical applications. In this presentation, a methodology for the design of biomimetic citrate biomaterials and their applications in regenerative engineering, drug delivery, bioimaging and biosensing will be discussed.
Venue: B6605 College Conference Room, Yeung Kin Man Academic Building Speaker: Dr. Jian Yang, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Dorothy Foehr Huck & J. Lloyd Foehr Huck Chair in Regenerative Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University
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Last modified on 19 October, 2023