Fracture-based micro- and nanofabrication for biological applications.
While fracture is generally considered to be undesirable in various manufacturing processes, delicate control of fracture can be successfully implemented to generate structures at micro/nano length scales. Fracture-based fabrication techniques can serve as a template-free manufacturing method, and enables highly-ordered patterns or fluidic channels to be formed over large areas in a simple and cost-effective manner. Such technologies can be leveraged to address biologically-relevant problems, such as in the analysis of biomolecules or in the design of culture systems that imitate the cellular or molecular environment. This mini review provides an overview of current fracture-guided fabrication techniques and their biological applications. We first survey the mechanical principles of fracture-based approaches. Then we describe biological applications at the cellular and molecular levels. Finally, we discuss unique advantages of the different system for biological studies.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Michigan, 2200 Bonisteel Blvd, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA ; Macromolecular Science and Engineering Center, College of Engineering, University of Michigan, 2300 Hayward St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Byoung Choul
BC
Kim
Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Michigan, 2200 Bonisteel Blvd, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Christopher
C
Moraes
Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Michigan, 2350 Hayward St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Jiexi
J
Huang
Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Michigan, 2350 Hayward St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA ; Department of Materials Science & Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Michigan, 2300 Hayward St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
M D
MD
Thouless
Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Michigan, 2200 Bonisteel Blvd, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA ; Macromolecular Science and Engineering Center, College of Engineering, University of Michigan, 2300 Hayward St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Shuichi
S
Takayama