An Engineered Surface of Mucociliary Transport for Medical Devices

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Mucus contacted medical devices, such as airway devices and eye prostheses, suffer from mucus accumulation. Plugged mucus causes bacterial infection, airway blockage, and a requirement of frequent device cleaning and replacement, which adds significant care burdens for the patient and support community. Current approaches to mitigate mucus accumulation involve strong mechanical forces or medications, thus having intrinsic limitations and side effects. Mucociliary transport (MCT), a process by which waves of beating cilia move a blanket of mucus, forms the first-line barrier against infection in respiratory and genital tracts. Inspired by the effectiveness of MCT in clearing mucus, the objective of this project is to develop an engineered surface that enables MCT function (i.e., an engineered surface of MCT). Our objective will be achieved through a combination of cilia fabrication, surface modification, and acoustic actuation with the following aims: fabricate engineered surfaces with polarized ciliary structures (Aim 1); understand mucus stickiness on engineered surface of MCT. (Aim 2); develop platforms to test acoustic actuated MCT on engineered surfaces in vitro and in vivo (Aim 3). The proposed research is rationally built on experimental feasibility, investigator expertise, and a supportive research environment. The feasibility is supported by experimental successes in polymer ciliary surfaces, slug and pig models of mucus, and vibration of microstructures with acoustic waves. The team of investigators have expertise in MCT, microfluidics, acoustics, 3D printing, and animal models. The proposed research will be conducted within the environment of the world- renowned Lung Physiology Research Center and Roy J. Carver Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Iowa, with broad availability of complementary expertise in biology and engineering. The expected outcomes of this project include revealing the mechanism of MCT on engineered surfaces and delivering an innovative medical device product incorporating an engineered surface of MCT.