Bio-Inspired Magnetically Responsive Silicone Cilia: Fabrication Strategy and Interaction with Biological Mucus

• Published in: Bioengineering (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 3; p. 261
• Main Authors: Grein-Iankovski, Aline, de Oliveira Braga, Karina Andrighetti, Legendre, Daniel Formariz, Cardoso, Paulo Francisco Guerreiro, Loh, Watson
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01-03-2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Airway management; Arrays; artificial cilia; Aspect ratio; Biofilms; Biomedical materials; Cilia; Cilia and ciliary motion; Congenital diseases; Coronaviruses; Depuration; Disease; Health aspects; Implants, Artificial; Intubation; Lungs; magnetic cilia; Magnetic fields; Movement; mucociliary clearance; Mucus; Ostomy; Patients; Prostheses; Prosthesis; Prosthetics; Scanning electron microscopy; Secretions; Self-assembly; silicone; Silicones; Stents; tracheal prosthesis; Tracheotomy; Viscous fluids; Wettability; Brazil; United States > US; magnetic cilia; silicone; mucociliary clearance; tracheal prosthesis; artificial cilia
• ISSN: 2306-5354; 2306-5354
• DOI: 10.3390/bioengineering11030261

Cilia are biological structures essential to drive the mobility of secretions and maintain the proper function of the respiratory airways. However, this motile self-cleaning process is significantly compromised in the presence of silicone tracheal prosthesis, leading to biofilm growth and impeding effective treatment. To address this challenge and enhance the performance of these devices, we propose the fabrication of magnetic silicone cilia, with the prospect of their integration onto silicone prostheses. The present study presents a fabrication method based on magnetic self-assembly and assesses the interaction behavior of the cilia array with biological mucus. This protocol allows for the customization of cilia dimensions across a wide range of aspect ratios (from 6 to 85) and array densities (from 10 to 80 cilia/mm
) by adjusting the fabrication parameters, offering flexibility for adjustments according to their required characteristics. Furthermore, we evaluated the suitability of different cilia arrays for biomedical applications by analyzing their interaction with bullfrog mucus, simulating the airways environment. Our findings demonstrate that the fabricated cilia are mechanically resistant to the viscous fluid and still exhibit controlled movement under the influence of an external moving magnet. A correlation between cilia dimensions and mucus wettability profile suggests a potential role in facilitating mucus depuration, paving the way for further advancements aimed at enhancing the performance of silicone prostheses in clinical settings.