Soft, 3D Mesostructures as Biointerfaces—From Organoid Research to Fetoscopic Surgery

Recently developed capabilities in 3D mesoscale assembly and miniaturized soft actuators create exciting possibilities in functional microfluidic, electronic and mechanical interfaces to fragile living systems. This talk presents the core materials aspects associated with these ideas as applied to (1) research platforms for manipulating and interrogating biological processes in cardiac, muscle and neural organoids derived from human stem cells, and in assembloids formed with them and (2) surgical tools for monitoring a full complement of physiological metrics of fetal health during fetoscopic interventions.