As part of a collaboration with other institutes, ASM is developing a regenerator for muscle tissue. In this regenerator, muscle tissue is first decellularized until only the extracellular matrix remains. In a second step, the extracellular matrix is recellularized with new muscle cells.
As shown in [1] ultrasound can generally support the alignment of cells in hydrogels. In our approach, however, the cells will repopulate the extracellular matrix rather than a hydrogel. It is therefore unclear whether simple standing waves would provide the same benefits as they do in hydrogels.
Moiré patterns could be suitable not only for influencing cell orientation, but also for exerting forces on the cells that may support their penetration into the matrix. The aim of this thesis is to conceptualize a suitable ultrasound array that could be used to test this hypothesis.
As a first step, a pair of arrays will be designed that can generate a standing acoustic wavefront whose nodal points can be shifted by modulating the phase offset. Subsequently, two such array pairs will be arranged to generate and investigate a Moiré pattern.
Tasks and project objectives
- Plan the setup and select the required hardware
- Integrate the hardware into acoustic arrays
- Visualize and evaluate the resulting acoustic fields based on their interaction with small particles
Requirements
- Student in Mechatronics, Medical Engingeering, Electrical Engineering, Computational Engineering
- Interested in / Experienced in working with electronic hardware
- Interested in ultrasound
Contact
niklas.buente@fau.de
References
[1] Sun, C., Xu, B., Huang, L. et al. A pattern and lock strategy integrating acoustic patterning and hydrogel crosslinking for stable cell architectures. Sci Rep 15, 30885 (2025). doi:10.1038/s41598-025-16296-8