V. Correia

Proving the suitability of magnetoelectric stimuli for tissue engineering applications

A novel approach for tissue engineering applications based on the use of magnetoelectric materials is presented. This work proves that magnetoelectric Terfenol-D/poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) composites are able to provide mechanical and electrical stimuli to MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblast cells and that those stimuli can be remotely triggered by an applied magnetic field. Cell proliferation is enhanced up to ≈ 25% when cells are cultured under mechanical (up to 110 ppm) and electrical stimulation (up to 0.115 mV), showing that magnetoelectric cell stimulation is a novel and suitable approach for tissue engineering allowing magnetic, mechanical and electrical stimuli.

Development of inkjet printed strain sensors

Strain sensors with different architectures, such as single sensors, sensor arrays and a sensor matrix have been developed by inkjet printing technology. Sensors with gauge factors up to 2.48, dimensions of 1.5 mm × 1.8 mm and interdigitated structures with a distance of 30 μm between the finger lines have been achieved based on PeDOT (poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) and conductive ink. Strain gauges based on silver ink have also been achieved with a gauge factor of 0.35. Performance tests including 1000 mechanical cycles have been successfully carried out for the development of smart prosthesis applications.

Electronic optimization for an energy harvesting system based on magnetoelectric Metglas/poly(vinylidene fluoride)/Metglas composites

Harvesting magnetic energy from the environment is becoming increasingly attractive for being a renewable and inexhaustible power source, ubiquitous and accessible in remote locations. In particular, magnetic harvesting with polymer-based magnetoelectric (ME) materials meet the industry demands of being flexible, showing large area potential, lightweight and biocompatibility. In order to get the best energy harvesting process, the extraction circuit needs to be optimized in order to be useful for powering devices. This paper discusses the design and performance of five interface circuits, a full-wave bridge rectifier, two Cockcroft–Walton voltage multipliers (with 1 and 2 stages) and two Dickson voltage multipliers (with 2 and 3 stages), for the energy harvesting from a Fe61.6Co16.4Si10.8B11.2 (Metglas)/polyvinylidene fluoride/Metglas ME composite. Maximum power and power density values of 12 μW and 0.9 mW cm−3 were obtained, respectively, with the Dickson voltage multiplier with two stages, for a load resistance of 180 kΩ, at 7 Oe DC magnetic field and a 54.5 kHz resonance frequency. Such performance is useful for microdevice applications in hard-to-reach locations and for traditional devices such as electric windows, door locking, and tire pressure monitoring.

Sigma-delta A/D converter for CMOS image sensors

This paper describes the per-pixel readout circuit of an imaging matrix and compares it with other solutions. The per-pixel readout circuit consists in a digital pixel sensor array constituted by a photodiode and a one-bit first-order sigma-delta analog to digital converter for each pixel. The output of each pixel is a digital bit stream, containing information about the intensity of the light that falls into its photodiode. The sigma-delta A/D converters use only ten small size MOSFETs and one capacitor. The comparison between the solution presented here and other solutions show that the circuit complexity is similar but the performance, in terms of signal to noise ratio, is superior.

Optimized anisotropic magnetoelectric response of Fe61.6Co16.4Si10.8B11.2/PVDF/Fe61.6Co16.4Si10.8B11.2 laminates for AC/DC magnetic field sensing

The authors thank the FCT- Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia- for financial support under project PTDC/EEI-SII/5582/2014. P.M., S.R. and M.S. acknowledges also support from FCT (SFRH/BPD/96227/2013, SFRH/BDE/406 51542/2011 and SFRH/BD/70303/2010 grants respectively). This work was also supported by Avel-electronica Lda, Trofa, Portugal. J.G., A.L. and S.L.M. thank financial support from the Basque Government Industry Department under the ELKARTEK Program. SLM also thanks the Diputacion de Bizkaia for financial support under the Bizkaia Talent program.

Touchscreen based on acoustic pulse recognition with piezoelectric polymer sensors

This article describes the concept, design, fabrication and experimental results of a touchscreen based on acoustic pulse recognition. It uses piezoelectric transducers fabricated from the piezoelectric polymer poly(vinylidene fluoride), PVDF, in its beta phase. The transducers are located at the edges of the panel in order to receive the acoustic pulses generated by the touches. Each transducer is connected to a readout electronic circuit composed by a differential charge amplifier and a comparator, whose output signal is attached to a microcontroller. The microcontroller uses an algorithm to determine the location of the touch, based on the time differences of the transducer signals. The touchscreen itself is made of ordinary glass, providing good durability and optical transparency. The experimental results obtained with the first prototype demonstrate the effectiveness of the method.

Mechanical fatigue performance of PCL‐chondroprogenitor constructs after cell culture under bioreactor mechanical stimulus

In tissue engineering of cartilage, polymeric scaffolds are implanted in the damaged tissue and subjected to repeated compression loading cycles. The possibility of failure due to mechanical fatigue has not been properly addressed in these scaffolds. Nevertheless, the macroporous scaffold is susceptible to failure after repeated loading-unloading cycles. This is related to inherent discontinuities in the material due to the micropore structure of the macro-pore walls that act as stress concentration points. In this work, chondrogenic precursor cells have been seeded in poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) scaffolds with fibrin and some were submitted to free swelling culture and others to cyclic loading in a bioreactor. After cell culture, all the samples were analyzed for fatigue behavior under repeated loading-unloading cycles. Moreover, some components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) were identified. No differences were observed between samples undergoing free swelling or bioreactor loading conditions, neither respect to matrix components nor to mechanical performance to fatigue. The ECM did not achieve the desired preponderance of collagen type II over collagen type I which is considered the main characteristic of hyaline cartilage ECM. However, prediction in PCL with ECM constructs was possible up to 600 cycles, an enhanced performance when compared to previous works. PCL after cell culture presents an improved fatigue resistance, despite the fact that the measured elastic modulus at the first cycle was similar to PCL with poly(vinyl alcohol) samples. This finding suggests that fatigue analysis in tissue engineering constructs can provide additional information missed with traditional mechanical measurements.

Design and validation of a biomechanical bioreactor for cartilage tissue culture

Specific tissues, such as cartilage, undergo mechanical solicitation under their normal performance in human body. In this sense, it seems necessary that proper tissue engineering strategies of these tissues should incorporate mechanical solicitations during cell culture, in order to properly evaluate the influence of the mechanical stimulus. This work reports on a user-friendly bioreactor suitable for applying controlled mechanical stimulation—amplitude and frequency—to three-dimensional scaffolds. Its design and main components are described, as well as its operation characteristics. The modular design allows easy cleaning and operating under laminar hood. Different protocols for the sterilization of the hermetic enclosure are tested and ensure lack of observable contaminations, complying with the requirements to be used for cell culture. The cell viability study was performed with KUM5 cells.

Fabrication and Characterization of High-Performance Polymer-Based Magnetoelectric DC Magnetic Field Sensors Devices

The development of a DC magnetic field sensor based on a magnetoelectric (ME) PVDF/Metglas composite is reported. The ME sensing composite has an electromechanical resonance frequency close to 25.4 kHz, a linear response (r² = 0.997) in the 0–2 Oe DC magnetic field range, and a maximum output voltage of 112 mV (ME voltage coefficient α₃₃ of ≈30 V·cm⁻¹·Oe⁻¹). By incorporating a charge amplifier, an AC-RMS converter and a microcontroller with an on-chip analog-to-digital converter, the ME voltage response is not distorted, the linearity is maintained, and the ME output voltage increases to 3.3 V (α_33effective = 1000 V·cm⁻¹·Oe⁻¹). The sensing device, including the readout electronics, has a maximum drift of 0.12 Oe with an average total drift of 0.04 Oe, with a sensitivity of 1.5 V·Oe⁻¹ (15 kV·T⁻¹), and a 70 nT resolution. This feature is for the first time reported on a polymer-based ME device and compares favourably with a reference Hall sensor that showed a maximum drift of 0.07 Oe and an average error of 0.16 Oe, 5 V·T⁻¹ sensitivity, and 2 μT resolution. Such properties allied to the accurate measurement of the DC magnetic field (H_DC) in the 0–2 Oe range make this polymer-based device very attractive for applications, such as Earth magnetic field sensing, digital compasses, navigation, and magnetic field anomaly detectors, among others.

Marked object recognition multitouch screen printed touchpad for interactive applications

The market for interactive platforms is rapidly growing, and touchscreens have been incorporated in an increasing number of devices. Thus, the area of smart objects and devices is strongly increasing by adding interactive touch and multimedia content, leading to new uses and capabilities. In this work, a flexible screen printed sensor matrix is fabricated based on silver ink in a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. Diamond shaped capacitive electrodes coupled with conventional capacitive reading electronics enables fabrication of a highly functional capacitive touchpad, and also allows for the identification of marked objects. For the latter, the capacitive signatures are identified by intersecting points and distances between them. Thus, this work demonstrates the applicability of a low cost method using royalty-free geometries and technologies for the development of flexible multitouch touchpads for the implementation of interactive and object recognition applications.