Applications of the ElastoSens™ Bio in biomaterials and Life Sciences
with advanced biomaterials testing and analysis.
The ElastoSens™ Bio helps biologists and material scientists unlock scientific discoveries and technological advancements thanks to advanced features and capabilities to test the mechanical properties of biomaterials.
Discover below how the ElastoSens™ Bio measures without contact and non-destructively the viscoelasticity of forming or degrading hydrogels, bioengineered tissues, hemostatic agents, blood and plasma clots, 3D bioprinted structures and biokins, and much more.
Formulation of hydrogels
Hydrogels are biomaterials that are widely studied in the biomedical field. They are used, for example, to produce contact lenses and wound dressings, for drug release systems, or as scaffolds for tissue engineering. The design of such hydrogels is often multidimensional since multiple parameters related to their chemical composition and physical properties affect how they are going to behave in vivo.
Alginate is a polysaccharide present as a structural component of algae and a capsular component of soil bacteria. The polysaccharide is typically obtained from brown seaweed and used in many industries such as medical, pharmaceutical, food, textile due to its viscosifying, gelling and stabilizing properties.
The field of regenerative medicine comprises different strategies to replace or restore diseased and damaged tissues and organs. It includes tissue-engineered products that rely on the combination of biomaterials, cells and inductive biomolecules to promote tissue and organ regeneration.
All cells in the human body are exposed to mechanical forces which regulate cell function and tissue development, and each cell type is specifically adapted to the mechanical properties of the tissue it resides in. The matrix properties of human tissues can also change with disease and in turn facilitate its progression.
Gelatin and hyaluronic acid (HA) are biomaterials widely used in the biomedical research field. HA is the most abundant glycosaminoglycan in the body and is an important component of several tissues. HA contributes to tissue hydrodynamics, movement and proliferation of cells, and participates in a number of cell surface receptor interactions.
Cellularized hydrogels have been widely investigated for producing in vitro models of tissues such as skin, blood vessels, bone, etc. These models can be a valuable alternative to animal models used in trials for studying physio/pathological processes and for testing new drugs and medical devices.
Degradation of hydrogels
The ElastoSens™ Bio was used to measure the mechanical properties of different hydrogels during their enzymatically or physically induced degradation. The use of removable sample holders facilitates the study of long term and slow degradation processes.
Cellularized hydrogels have been widely investigated for producing in vitro models of tissues such as skin, blood vessels, bone, etc. These models can be a valuable alternative to animal models used in trials for studying physio/pathological processes and for testing new drugs and medical devices.
The thermoreversible behavior of some polymers relies on the large conformation changes in response to temperature. They have been investigated for a variety of clinical applications that demand an in situ gelation at physiological temperatures. In addition, these polymers have been widely studied for other biomedical applications such as drug delivery and tissue engineering in which the thermoresponsive behavior needs to be balanced with biocompatibility and degradation kinetics.
The controlled release of drugs at precise locations within the body can prevent systemic toxicity and deliver accurate dosages to patients. Hydrogels have recently been investigated as promising drug delivery systems due to their ability to provide spatial and temporal control over the release of a number of therapeutic agents. Furthermore, the easy tunability of their physicochemical and mechanical properties allows the design of application-specific release systems.
Biodegradable hydrogels are promising candidates as drug carriers due to their biocompatibility and tunable degradation. This is particularly valuable for oral delivery systems since the polymer should respond to pH or enzymatic changes in the gastrointestinal environment to achieve a controlled drug release.
Hydrogels exhibit a pronounced viscoelastic behavior similar to soft tissues. For this reason, they have been widely used in biomedical research for developing engineered tissues and novel treatments such as wound dressings and drug delivery systems.
Tissue engineering
Non-destructive, contact-free viscoelastic testing of fragile biomaterials is now possible. See how the ElastoSens™ Bio can test long-term evolution of cell-laden hydrogels on the same sterile sample with advanced biomaterials testing and analysis.
The mechanical characterization of biological soft membranes such as skin, pericardium, or hydrogel-based samples is challenging and often results in sample damage. The Membrane Sample Holder of the ElastoSens™ Bio has been designed for facilitating the loading and the handling of membrane samples allowing proper mechanical testing. In this study, the elasticity of bovine pericardium membranes were precisely measured using the ElastoSens™ Bio...
The field of regenerative medicine comprises different strategies to replace or restore diseased and damaged tissues and organs. It includes tissue-engineered products that rely on the combination of biomaterials, cells and inductive biomolecules to promote tissue and organ regeneration.
All cells in the human body are exposed to mechanical forces which regulate cell function and tissue development, and each cell type is specifically adapted to the mechanical properties of the tissue it resides in. The matrix properties of human tissues can also change with disease and in turn facilitate its progression.
Cellularized hydrogels have been widely investigated for producing in vitro models of tissues such as skin, blood vessels, bone, etc. These models can be a valuable alternative to animal models used in trials for studying physio/pathological processes and for testing new drugs and medical devices.
Hemostatic Agents & Blood Coagulation
ElastoSens™ Bio is the unique viscoelasticity testing instrument that measures, in real time, the formation of blood clots under the action of hemostatic agents. Test hemostatic gauzes, powders and gels in vitro to develop products, to accelerate preclinical studies or to control the quality of medical devices.
The human body has a natural mechanism to stop bleeding after an injury. Platelets migrate to the site of injury and start to form a soft blood clot. This activates other clotting factors in the bloodstream triggering a chain reaction to form a harder blood clot that will stay firmly in place.
The ElastoSens™ Bio was used to analyze the effects of hemostatic agents (HAs) on blood coagulation. The technology identified HAs that can alter clotting independently of the body's natural processes. These findings can optimize current HAs and aid in developing new ones.
The viscoelastic properties of coagulating blood can be correlated with several diseases and genetic conditions that affect the natural blood coagulation process including bleeding disorders, hemophilia, rare factor deficiencies, von Willebrand disease and platelet function disorders. Therefore, the evaluation of blood clot properties can be valuable for the study, diagnosis and eventually treatment of these diseases.
Hemostatic agents (HA, e.g. powders, gauzes, adhesives and sealants) have been used for decades to control bleeding. The demand for these agents is growing due to two major trends in surgical practice: the expansion of minimally invasive surgery and complex reconstructive procedures that are more limited in their capacity to obtain hemostasis.
3D Bioprinting
In 3D bioprinting, the ElastoSens™ Bio is used to non-destructively test the mechanical properties of: bioinks, 3D printed hydrogels and 3D bioprinted structures. The measured mechanical properties correlates with the printability of the bioink, with the architecture of the printed structure or with the growth of cells.
The thermoreversible behavior of some polymers relies on the large conformation changes in response to temperature. They have been investigated for a variety of clinical applications that demand an in situ gelation at physiological temperatures. In addition, these polymers have been widely studied for other biomedical applications such as drug delivery and tissue engineering in which the thermoresponsive behavior needs to be balanced with biocompatibility and degradation kinetics.
3D printing technologies offer the advantage of precisely controlling the microstructure of scaffolds used for tissue engineering applications and drug delivery systems. The macro-mechanical properties of these scaffolds are directly related to their microstructure and both are important parameters for cell behavior and drug release.
Photocrosslinking
Use ElastoSens™ Bio to apply light at selected wavelengths (365 nm, 385 nm, and 405 nm) during testing to obtain the crosslinking kinetics in real time of photocrosslinkable biomaterials. The study of photocrosslinking processes of hydrogels is simplified thanks to the high flexibility of the instrument: selectable/combinable wavelengths, adjustable intensities and custom irradiation cycles.
All cells in the human body are exposed to mechanical forces which regulate cell function and tissue development, and each cell type is specifically adapted to the mechanical properties of the tissue it resides in. The matrix properties of human tissues can also change with disease and in turn facilitate its progression.
Gelatin and hyaluronic acid (HA) are biomaterials widely used in the biomedical research field. HA is the most abundant glycosaminoglycan in the body and is an important component of several tissues. HA contributes to tissue hydrodynamics, movement and proliferation of cells, and participates in a number of cell surface receptor interactions.
Hydrogels have been widely used in biomedical research for developing engineered tissues and novel treatments such as wound dressings and drug delivery systems. Photo-crosslinkable polymers are an interesting option in the field due to the possibility of tuning its microstructure by regulating the wavelength, intensity and duration of the applied light [1, 2, 3].
Mechanical properties of native tissues
The ElastoSens™ Bio is used to measure ex vivo the viscoelastic or mechanical properties of soft native tissues.
The mechanical characterization of biological soft membranes such as skin, pericardium, or hydrogel-based samples is challenging and often results in sample damage. The Membrane Sample Holder of the ElastoSens™ Bio has been designed for facilitating the loading and the handling of membrane samples allowing proper mechanical testing. In this study, the elasticity of bovine pericardium membranes were precisely measured using the ElastoSens™ Bio...
Enzymes are commonly used in the field of regenerative medicine to degrade native tissues for the extraction of cells and other components, or as a part of physiological-like fluids to mimic in vivo conditions for biomaterials in development. The performance of enzymes can be measured in terms of weight loss or mechanical properties. The viscoelastic properties of kidney tissue during incubation with collagenase was precisely measured using the ElastoSens™ Bio...
The emerging field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine have the noble goal to develop lab-grown human tissues or alternative biomaterials to assist in their self-healing. In order to be functional in the human body, these biomaterials need to meet specific requirements of the intended site of implantation both in terms of biological, biochemical, and physical properties.
Superabsorbent Polymers
The swelling and liquid absorption by superabsorbent polymers (SAP) can be tested in real time using the ElastoSens™ Bio. The SAP gel formation depends on the nature and amount of the absorbed liquid as well as the chemical composition of the polymer.
Testing the bulk mechanical properties of superabsorbent polymers (SAP) during swelling may be extremely challenging using traditional testing instruments such as rheometers and compressional testers. This analytical limitation reduces the ability to develop and formulate new superabsorbent polymers for specific applications and requirements.