Additively Manufactured Aquatic Animals Inspired Adhesive Biopatch

The healthcare landscape is poised for a paradigm shift with the emergence of bioinspired micro-architectures for diagnostic and therapeutic devices. These novel architectures hold immense promise for revolutionizing patient care by offering a combination of enhanced performance, superior biocompatibility, and improved breathability and flexibility. This translates to minimized side effects and improved patient comfort, particularly for vulnerable populations like neonates, infants, and individuals with chronic skin conditions [1].<br/>Traditional adhesive-based solutions often present limitations, including skin irritation, potential injury, and interference with biosignal monitoring near moist environments. Bioinspired micro-architectures address these challenges by promoting a paradigm shift towards reusable, drainable, and contaminant-free transdermal patches. These innovative patches, when integrated with therapeutic systems or attachable diagnostic sensors, have the potential to become the cornerstone of long-term diagnostic, therapeutic, and rehabilitation strategies for patients requiring specialized medical interventions [2].<br/>Towards these goals, in this work, we show a hybrid additive manufacturing process, based on stereolithography and direct-in-writing, for the development of a multifunctional self-adhesive patch capable of collecting electrophysiological signals. The patch includes microscale suction cups – inspired by the skin of the octopus – to enable a self-adhesion capability without the need for chemical adhesives, in addition to microfluidic channels to make it breathable as well as electrodes to monitor biosignals. Biocompatibiliy tests show that such patches cause no skin irritation and leave no residues, as opposed to commercially available patches using chemical adhesives [3].<br/><br/>[1] S. Chun <i>et al</i>., <i>Adv Funct Mater</i> <b>2018</b>, <i>28</i><br/>[2] D. W. Kim <i>et al.,</i> <i>Adv Mater</i> <b>2022</b>, <i>34</i><br/>[3] A. Alsharif <i>et al.,</i> <i>Adv Funct Mater</i> <b>2024</b>