NSF MRI: Acquisition of a Nanoscale 3D Printer for Medical Device Precision Manufacturing at Michigan State University

题目：NSF MRI：密歇根州立大学获得用于医疗设备精密制造的纳米级3D打印机。该项目旨在通过获得Nanoscribe光子专业GT2来加速密歇根州立大学（MSU）和密歇根州中西部的精密医疗设备研究。Nanoscribe仪器是一种独特的尖端光刻系统，可以从虚拟3D模型中制造微/纳米级复杂结构，成本低，速度快（100 mm/s），极高分辨率（160 nm），打印量大。该仪器将被安置在电气和计算机工程研究洁净室（ERC），这是一个多学科共享的研究设施，可供密歇根州立大学和外部用户使用。有了Nanoscribe，密歇根州立大学将成为一个区域中心，为密歇根州立大学以及密歇根州中西部其他研究所和当地公司的用户提供高精度增材制造支持。该仪器将立即受益于来自密歇根州立大学4个不同部门和3个学院的不同研究团队及其跨学科研究项目，以及其他机构，包括弗劳恩霍夫美国中西部中心、海伦·德沃斯儿童医院、圣路易斯华盛顿大学和奥克兰大学。相关研究预计将产生大量的医疗器械专利，这些专利具有巨大的转化为临床应用的潜力。除了研究效益外，该仪器还将作为培训增材制造、微/纳米工程、生物技术、物理学、环境科学、科学艺术等多学科研究人员和生物工程师的教育工具。精密医疗设备研究是密歇根州立大学发展最快的研究领域之一，跨学科合作利用工程学院、自然科学学院和人类医学学院以及定量健康科学与工程研究所的综合优势，为医学和健康创造下一代微/纳米设备。所要求的纳米书写器的功能将在以下主要领域开辟许多新的研究途径：(1)神经接口技术：与大脑和神经系统无缝通信的小型化植入物；(2)可穿戴设备：用于监测佩戴者健康生物物理标记的柔性和/或可拉伸传感器；(3)微流体和芯片类器官：基于生物材料的微/纳米结构，用于研究细胞/组织特性，生命系统中的细胞通讯，类器官的发育和成熟，以及气溶胶颗粒；(4)生物医学微/纳米机器人：能够与人体和环境进行自适应、安全交互的柔性智能机器人；(5)生物光子学用于超薄生物医学成像和生物传感。所要求的Nanoscribe是一个必不可少的支持工具，它不仅可以满足不同研究人员的迫切需求，加快他们当前/未来在生物医学设备方面的研究，而且还可以促进本部门、整个密歇根州立大学以及机构以外的工程师和科学家之间的多学科合作。除了医学和健康研究之外，所要求的Nanoscribe仪器将大大扩展密歇根州立大学现有的微/纳米制造能力，以满足微/纳米科学、工程和技术的需求。通过创造最先进的纳米级物体，该仪器还将成为创造科学培训和艺术作品的重要工具，以吸引学生，特别是来自代表性不足群体的学生，从事STEM教育和研究。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Title: NSF MRI: Acquisition of a Nanoscale 3D Printer for Medical Device Precision Manufacturing at Michigan State UniversityAbstractPrecision manufacturing is a dominating factor for future medical technology innovation. This project seeks to accelerate the precision medical device research at Michigan State University (MSU) and in Midwest Michigan by acquiring a Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2. The Nanoscribe instrument is a unique cutting-edge lithography system that allows fabricating micro/nanoscale complex structures from virtual 3D models with low cost, fast speed (100 mm/s), extremely high resolutions (160 nm), and large print volume. The instrument will be housed at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Research Cleanroom (ERC), a multidisciplinary shared research facility available to both MSU and external users. With the Nanoscribe, MSU will become a regional hub for providing high-precision additive manufacturing support to users from MSU as well as other institutes and local companies in Midwest Michigan. The instrument will immediately benefit a diverse team of investigators and their cross-disciplinary research projects from 4 different departments and 3 colleges at MSU and other institutions including Fraunhofer USA Center Midwest, Helen Devos Children Hospital, Washington University in St. Louis, and Oakland University. The associated research is expected to produce numerous patents on medical devices with huge potential to be translated into clinical use. Besides research benefits, the instrument will serve as an educational tool for training multidisciplinary researchers and bioengineers in additive manufacturing, micro/nanoengineering, biotechnologies, physics, environmental science, scientific art, etc. Precision medical device research is one of MSU’s most rapidly growing research areas, where cross-disciplinary collaborations leverage the combined strengths of Colleges of Engineering, Natural Science, and Human Medicine as well as the Institute for Quantitative Health Science & Engineering to create the next generation of micro/nanodevices for medicine and health. The capabilities of the requested Nanoscribe will open many new avenues of research in the following major areas: (1) Neural interface technologies: miniaturized implants for seamless communication with the brain and the nervous systems; (2) Wearables: flexible and/or stretchable sensors for monitoring biophysical markers of wearers’ health; (3) Microfluidics & organoid-on-chip: biomaterial-based, micro/nanostructures to study cell/tissue properties, cell communication in living systems, organoid development and maturation, and aerosol particles; (4) Biomedical micro/nanorobotics: soft, intelligent robotics for adaptive and safe interaction with human body and environments; (5) Biophotonics for ultra-thin biomedical imaging and biosensing. The requested Nanoscribe is an essential enabling tool that will not only address the critical need of a diverse group of researchers to expedite their current/future research in biomedical devices, but also promote multidisciplinary collaborations between engineers and scientists within the department, across MSU, and beyond the institution. Besides medical and health research, the requested Nanoscribe instrument will significantly expand the existing micro/nanomanufacturing capabilities at MSU for serving the needs of micro/nanoscale science, engineering, and technology. By creating state-of-the-art nanoscale objects, the instrument will also serve as an important tool to create scientific training and artistic works to attract students, especially from the underresppreatnd groups, to pursue STEM education and research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.