01748nas a2200181   4500008004100000245010200041210006900143490000700212520117200219100001101391700001401402700001301416700001701429700001701446700001301463700001801476856007201494       2016                        eng d00aA bioreactor with an electro-responsive elastomeric membrane for mimicking intestinal peristalsis0 abioreactor with an electroresponsive elastomeric membrane for mi0 v123 a<p>This study describes an actuated bioreactor which mimics the pulsatile contractile motion of the intestinal barrier using electro-responsive elastomers as smart materials that undergo deformation upon electrical stimulation. The device consists of an annular dielectric elastomer actuator working as a radial artificial muscle able to rhythmically contract and relax a central cell culture well. The bioreactor maintained up to 4 h of actuation at a frequency of 0.15 Hz and a strain of 8%–10%, to those of the cyclic contraction and relaxation of the small intestine. In vitro tests demonstrated that the device was biocompatible and cell-adhesive for Caco-2 cells, which formed a confluent monolayer following 21 days of culture in the central well. In addition, cellular adhesion and cohesion were maintained after 4 h of continuous cyclic strain. These preliminary results encourage further investigations on the use of dielectric elastomer actuation as a versatile technology that might overcome the limitations of commercially available pneumatic driving systems to obtain bioreactors that can cyclically deform cell cultures in a biomimetic fashion.</p>
1 aCei, D1 aCosta, J.1 aGori, G.1 aFrediani, G.1 aDomenici, C.1 aCarpi, F1 aAhluwalia, A.  uhttp://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-3190/12/1/016001/pdf