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Feig VR, Remlova E, Muller B, Kuosmanen JLP, Lal N, Ginzburg A, Nan K, Patel A, Jebran AM, Bantwal MP, Fabian N, Ishida K, Jenkins J, Rosenboom JG, Park S, Madani W, Hayward A, Traverso G. Actively Triggerable Metals via Liquid Metal Embrittlement for Biomedical Applications. Adv Mater 2023; 35:e2208227. [PMID: 36321332 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202208227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2022] [Revised: 10/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Actively triggerable materials, which break down upon introduction of an exogenous stimulus, enable precise control over the lifetime of biomedical technologies, as well as adaptation to unforeseen circumstances, such as changes to an established treatment plan. Yet, most actively triggerable materials are low-strength polymers and hydrogels with limited long-term durability. By contrast, metals possess advantageous functional properties, including high mechanical strength and conductivity, that are desirable across several applications within biomedicine. To realize actively triggerable metals, a mechanism called liquid metal embrittlement is leveraged, in which certain liquid metals penetrate the grain boundaries of certain solid metals and cause them to dramatically weaken or disintegrate. In this work, it is demonstrated that eutectic gallium indium (EGaIn), a biocompatible alloy of gallium, can be formulated to reproducibly trigger the breakdown of aluminum within different physiologically relevant environments. The breakdown behavior of aluminum after triggering can further be readily controlled by manipulating its grain structure. Finally, three possible use cases of biomedical devices constructed from actively triggerable metals are demonstrated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vivian R Feig
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Eva Remlova
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Universitätstrasse 2, Zurich, 8092, Switzerland
| | - Benjamin Muller
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Johannes L P Kuosmanen
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Nikhil Lal
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Anna Ginzburg
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Kewang Nan
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Ashka Patel
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Ahmad Mujtaba Jebran
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Meghana Prabhu Bantwal
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Biotechnology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Niora Fabian
- The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
- Division of Comparative Medicine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Keiko Ishida
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Joshua Jenkins
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Jan-Georg Rosenboom
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Sanghyun Park
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Wiam Madani
- The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Alison Hayward
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Giovanni Traverso
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
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