Research Projects

Many medical and rehabilitation devices are based on textile material. Their adaptive yet strong nature complies well with the need for comfort and the range of mechanical properties. However, personalization of textiles is yet difficult and often requires an effortful sewing process. 3D-printing textile structures could leverage the access to personalized textile wearables. By tuning the textile structure directly during printing, the mechanical properties of such devices can be spatially tuned on a very detailed level.

Researchers & Contact

Marc Wirth, wirthma@ethz.ch

Supervisor: Professor Kristina Shea

Related Publications

3D-printing textiles: multi-stage mechanical characterization of additively manufactured biaxial weaves, M. Wirth, K.Shea, T. Chen, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2022.111449

Globally, most medical devices are designed for high-income countries with efficient health care systems in place and many resources available. These devices cannot simply be used the same way in low-resource settings as local conditions such as the user environment, education and infrastructure can vary significantly. This research project aims to support product developers in designing medical equipment that is specifically made for hospitals in low-resource settings. The developed methods are expected to help designers navigate through the various challenges of those settings.

Researchers & Contact

Milena Overhoff, moverhoff@ethz.ch

Supervisor: Professor Kristina Shea

Related Publications

A Product Life Cycle Approach to Medical Device Development for Low-Resource Settings – A Systematic Literature Review, M. Overhoff, T. S. Lumpe, K. Shea, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1115/DETC2023-109064

One applied goal of the materials we design is to mimic the structure and function of native tissues. A critical aspect for mimicking native tissues is recapitulating aspects of their complex spatial and temporal organization. In addition to our efforts to engineer the chemical details of biomaterials, we are also interested in processing methods that add complexity and hierarchy to their design. Traditional polymeric biomaterials often present design constraints that limit the geometric, surface, and interfacial properties of the materials. In our group, we utilize various techniques to fabricate materials with hierarchical structure. Toward this end, we utilize polymeric components as building blocks at different scales to process materials with spatial details at varying scales.

Researchers & Contact

Dr. Dhananjay Deshmukh, Dr. Börte Emiroglu, Stéphane Bernhard, Yifan Cui, Dalia Dranseikiene, Saumitra Joshi

Supervisor: Professor Mark Tibbit

Related Publications

Bovone et al., Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 2019, 7, 423

Guzzi et al., Biofabrication 2021, 13, 044105

In every tissue, cells are embedded in a microenvironment composed of a fibrillar extracellular matrix (ECM), neighboring cells, and surrounding fluid. Cells dynamically sense the physical properties of the ECM (e.g., topographic features, stiffness), and mechanical forces (e.g., tensile, compressive, and shear forces). These physical signals are important for guiding cell proliferation and differentiation. We design tailored environments that can mimic aspects of these interactions to improve our understanding of cellular mechanotransduction and to foster translational applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Researchers & Contact

Dr. Cèline Labouesse, Dr. Jaimie Mayner, Filippo Cuni, Gabriela Da Silva André, Lorenza Garau Paganella

Supervisor: Professor Mark Tibbit

Related Publications

Deshmukh et al., Bioeng. & Transl. Med. 2020, 5, e10181

Dudaryeva et al., Adv. Funct. Mater. 2021, 2104098

In an aging society, the increased risk of femur fractures necessitates an improved numerical model for accurate diagnosis. Traditional methods based on ad-hoc criteria are overly conservative and do not cover many clinical cases. We work on developing a flexible variational phase-field model for femur fractures, addressing the major theoretical challenges, namely heterogeneity and multiaxial stress state nucleation.

Researchers & Contact

Francesco Vincentini

Supervisor: Professor Laura De Lorenzis, Dr. Pietro Carrara

Related Publications

Phase-field modeling of brittle fracture in heterogeneous bars, F. Vicentini, P. Carrara, L. De Lorenzis, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euromechsol.2022.104826

On the energy decomposition in variational phase-field models for brittle fracture under multi-axial stress states, F. Vicentini, C. Zolesi, P. Carrara, C. Maurini, L. De Lorenzis, 2023, https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-04231075v1

The project aimed at optimizing the design of non-penetrating suction cups used for the recording of sound and movement of cetaceans. The design of the suction cups was improved using CFD simulations of the flow around a dolphin. CFD design optimization achieved both improved tag longevity and improved hydrodynamic of the tag in order to minimize the drag burden on the dolphins.

Researchers & Contact

Dr. Victor Petrov

Supervisor: Professor Laura De Lorenzis, Dr. Pietro Carrara

Related Publications

Zhang, D, van der Hoop, JM, Petrov, V, Rocho-Levine, J, Moore, MJ, Shorter, KA. Simulated and experimental estimates of hydrodynamic drag from bio-logging tags. Mar Mam Sci. 2020; 36: 136–157. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12627 

Julie M. van der Hoop, Andreas Fahlman, Thomas Hurst, Julie Rocho-Levine, K. Alex Shorter, Victor Petrov, Michael J. Moore; Bottlenose dolphins modify behavior to reduce metabolic effect of tag attachment. J Exp Biol 1 December 2014; 217 (23): 4229–4236. doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.108225

In the past years, there has been a growing interest in investigating ultrasound-based therapies for applications such as embolotherapy and targeted drug delivery. The use of ultrasound-activatable agents has shown great potential in terms of specificity of the treatment and reduction of the needed ultrasound peak pressure. Acoustic Droplet Vaporization (ADV) is an emerging technique that employs ultrasound-activatable phase-change micron- and sub-micron-sized liquid droplets as cavitation nuclei. The liquid cores act as precursors of microbubbles, providing long in-vivo circulation lifetimes and the possibility for the nanodroplets to naturally extravasate through the leaky vasculature of tumor tissues, which is advantageous for targeted drug delivery. Our goal is to improve the understanding of the physics of nucleation and to exploit this knowledge to improve the agents, making them safer and better.

Researchers & Contact

Samuele Fiorini, Anunay Prasanna

Supervisor: Professor Outi Supponen

Related Publications

Microfluidics is an important tool to control the flow of fluids on small length scales where they enable complex operations that mimick for cellular functions and environments or replicate whole labs on a miniaturized platform.

Controlling these fluid flows is traditionally done by designing the structure of microfluidic chip. However, the intrinsic lack of flexibility of the design can be added on by projecting optical landscapes which in turn through the creation of heat gradients can induce fluid flows. This allows for dynamic controls of fluid flows spatially and temporally enabling multiple microfluidic actuators at once.

Researchers & Contact

Dr. Falko Schmidt

Supervisor: Professor Romain Quidant

Related Publications

Non steady-state thermometry with optical diffraction tomography. A. Vasista et. al, 2023.
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2308.04429

Long-range optofluidic control with plasmon heating, Ciraulo et al. 2021, Nat Commun. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22280-3

The research project aims at studying and characterizing biomarkers with optofluidic platforms with a focus on biosensing and fingerprinting of extracellular vesicle subpopulations. For this, we combine label-free microscopy methods with highly functional microfluidic chips and computer vision to associate extracellular vesicles to their parent cell on a single-molecule resolution.

Researchers & Contact

Pascal Rüedi, Chiara Lombardo

Supervisor: Dr. Jaime Ortega-Arroyo, Professor Romain Quidant

Related Publications

Hydrocephalus is a medical condition in which excessive accumulation of fluid in the brain causes neurological damage. Up to this date, no treatment exists and the most common form of therapy still relies on passive mechanical shunt systems to drain the excessive fluid out of the brain into the abdominal area. The project VIEshunt is our commitment to leading hydrocephalus therapy into the 21st century by developing a ventricular intelligent electromechanical shunt system for hydrocephalus patients.

Researchers & Contact

Fabian Flürenbock

Supervisors: Dr. Marianne Schmid Daners, Professor Melanie Zeilinger

Related Publications

Congenital heart disease (CHD) describes one of the most common birth defects in humans, with a prevalence of around 7.2 per 1’000 births in Europe. Around 7% of newborn with CHD require immediate open-​​heart surgery within the first 6 months of their life. During these surgical interventions, a cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is used to sustain circulation and oxygenation of the blood. However, the operating point of these CPBs has not yet been determined sufficiently in regard to minimizing irreversible brain damage during surgery. A promising approach to gain more insights into these dynamics would be to use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) while the CPB is attached.

Researchers & Contact

Dominik Schulte

Supervisors: Dr. Marianne Schmid Daners, Professor Melanie Zeilinger

Related Publications

Development of magnetically steerable wireless nanodevices for the targeted delivery of therapeutic agents in any vascular reagion of the body. Microrobots are developed for targeted drug delivery treatment of conditions such as strokes.

Researchers & Contact

Fabian Landers

Supervisors: Professor Bradley Nelson

Related Publications

New 3D printing technology could transform passive composites into active mechanisms. The EU-funded EVA project is developing a new technology which can programme the mechanical, magnetic and electrical properties of 3D printed structures. This could offer applications in fields such as biotechnology (scaffolds to stimulate new cell growth) and wastewater treatment (high-efficiency catalytic membranes to remove micropollutants).

Researchers & Contact

Huimin Chen, Vitaly Pustavalov

Supervisors: Professor Bradley Nelson

Related Publications

Development of electromagnetic navigation systems for precise manipulation of magnetic, flexible tools in medical applications.

Researchers & Contact

Dr. Quentin Böhler

Supervisors: Professor Bradley Nelson

Related Publications

Development and fabrication of multi-scale magnetic microrobotic drug carriers for precise delivery of therapeutic agents in biomedical applications.

Researchers & Contact

Valentin Gantenbein

Supervisors: Professor Bradley Nelson

Related Publications

Development of new soft robots such as milimeter-scale magnetic catheters for magnetic intra-body manipulation to treat cardiac arrhythmia and to perfom eye- and neurosurgery.

Researchers & Contact

Alexander Mesot, Michelle Matille

Supervisors: Professor Bradley Nelson

Related Publications

Blood flow in small vessels is known to display a segregation phenomenon called margination, which is important for targeted drug delivery in microcirculation, as the motion of drug-carriers and their distribution are strongly affected by their interactions with RBCs. We aim to investigate the underlying mechanisms of margination and the optimization of targeted drug delivery.

Researchers & Contact

Yinghui Li

Supervisors: Professor Filippo Coletti

Related Publications

The emerging field of biohybrid robotics aims to create the next generation of soft and sustainable robots by using engineered biological muscle tissues integrated with soft materials as artificial muscles (bio-actuators). We use a variety of tissue engineering tecniques such as molding, extrusion printing, and volumetric printing to generate 3D skeletal muscle tissues. We work to address challenges of involved in the production of larger-scale and more performant systems by addressing problems of living and non-living material integration, perfusability, and functionality.

Researchers & Contact

Aiste Balciunaite (abalciunaite@ethz.ch), Asia Badolato, Dr. Miriam Filippi

Supervisor: Professor Robert Katzschmann

Related Publications

Balciunaite, A., Yasa, O., Filippi, M., Michelis, M. Y. & Katzschmann, R. K. Bilayered Biofabrication Unlocks the Potential of Skeletal Muscle for Biohybrid Soft Robots. 2024 IEEE 7th Int. Conf. Soft Robot. (RoboSoft) 00, 525–530 (2024).

Georgopoulou, A. et al. Bioprinting of Stable Bionic Interfaces Using Piezoresistive Hydrogel Organoelectronics. Adv. Healthc. Mater. e2400051 (2024) doi:10.1002/adhm.202400051.

Filippi, M. et al. Perfusable Biohybrid Designs for Bioprinted Skeletal Muscle Tissue. Adv. Healthc. Mater. e2300151 (2023) doi:10.1002/adhm.202300151.