Materials for implant equipment from squid teeth

Animals are always an endless source of inspiration for scientists to develop new technologies and materials to serve people.

We have known the extremely high durability of the shrimp's "gloves" pair, the ability to find the way with the bat's ultrasound, the eyes that do not reflect the light of the moths and today the "teeth" of the ink The tube continues to give scientists the idea to develop a new material, which can be used to create less painful and less dangerous medical implants.

Squid has a beaked beak that is quite similar to a parrot and we still call it "tooth" squid. The ink teeth are hard at the head but soften to the base, ie the part near the mouth. This means that the teeth of the ink have a soft stiffness that gradually decreases from the beginning to the root, so there is no sudden boundary between the characteristic transformation. This is the idea that helps scientists at Case Western Reserve University, Ohio, USA develop materials.

Set of "teeth" of squid.

The ink teeth are formed by a nanocomposite material, consisting of a "network of chitin filaments attached together within a protein structure that is cross-linked with increasing density from the root (near the mouth of the ink) to the tip of teeth". The teeth are usually very wet and even when it dries, this characteristic still exists.

To create an ink-like material, scientists began with a previously created material based on the skin of sea cucumber with hard and dry properties when wet. The team took samples of materials in thin film and added functionalized cellulose nanocrystals. These crystals form cross-linking structures when exposed to light and if exposed to more exposure, the number of connections increases. By exposing the film under stronger and stronger light sources along their length, they were able to create a hard and soft end to the other end.

Just like the teeth of squid and artificial skin of sea melon, the properties of new materials show more clearly when wet. Inside the human body is a very humid environment, so the material can be used to create implantable implants such as tubes that feed directly into the stomach, skin tips attached to the skin, etc. . in order to replace existing hard implant devices not only irritating but also disrupting biological tissues.

Case Western Reserve University research led by Professor Stuart J. Rowan and a report on the study were published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society last week.