Design of large-scale manufacturing of induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes

A new approach for design of large-scale manufacture of stem cell derived cells by using the biomechatronic methodology and computer-aided-design tools is described. The systematic conceptual design methodology for systems composed of active mechanical, electronic and biological components, here referred to as biomechatronics, is combined with the methodology for computer-aided design of bioprocesses. The objective has been to systematically investigate and compare by the combination of the methodologies what are favourable design alternatives in terms of equipment configuration and economic parameters. A demonstration case has been used for the manufacture of cardiomyocytes from human induced pluripotent stem cells. The results show how certain configurations are more favourable than others under given boundary conditions. The study indicates that the approach is possible to apply on other related bio-manufacturing systems.     

Triangular cross-section peristaltic conveyor for transporting powders at high speed in printers

Powder-based materials are widely used in various applications such as printing. In printing, low shear force and high-speed conveyance at low temperatures are required to prevent creating defects in materials. In a previous study, we developed a transportation device based on the human intestinal tract that successfully transported highly viscous and solid–liquid fluid mixes and powder material. In this study, we developed a tubular peristaltic conveyor capable of transporting powdered materials in a printer under the aforementioned conditions. The conveyor had a triangular cross-sectional area and a small air chamber to facilitate high-speed peristaltic motion. The performance of the conveyor was confirmed experimentally, and we achieved a conveyance rate of 81.5?g/s.     

Model-based design of artificial zero power cochlear implant

This paper deals with a model-based design of an autonomous biomechatronic device for sensing and analog signal processing of acoustic signals. The aim is to develop a biomechatronic artificial cochlear implant for people with hearing loss due to damage or disease of their cochlea. The unique artificial electronic cochlear implant is based on an array of microelectromechanical piezoelectric membranes. Oscillations of membranes detect and filter acoustic signals in individual acoustic frequencies. The proposed biomechatronic device of the artificial cochlear implant consists of an active filters array, signal processing electronics, stimulation nerves electrodes and energy harvesting system for autonomous powering of the device. This solution differs from current cochlear implants solutions, which are bulky electronic systems limited by their high power consumption. The multidisciplinary models of the artificial cochlea implant concept are presented. The mechatronic approach based on model seems to be very useful for development of the full implantable cochlear implant which is designed for the sensing and processing of acoustic signals without external energy source.