Artificial cilia monitors mucus in human airways

The team at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee was led by Xiaoguang Dong, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and their work is detailed in PNAS.

In their paper, the researchers noted that continuously monitoring human airway conditions is crucial for timely interventions, especially when airway stents are implanted to alleviate central airway obstruction in lung cancer and other diseases.

Mucus conditions offer important biomarkers for indicating inflammation and stent patency but remain challenging to monitor. Current methods rely on computational tomography imaging and bronchoscope inspection but pose risks due to radiation and lack the ability to provide continuous real-time feedback outside of hospitals.

Mimicking the sensing ability of biological cilia, Dong and his team developed novel technology for detecting mucus conditions, including viscosity and layer thickness, which are important biomarkers for disease severity.

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“The sensing mechanism for mucus viscosity leverages external magnetic fields to actuate a magnetic artificial cilium and sense its shape using a flexible strain-gauge,” the Vanderbilt researchers wrote. “Additionally, we report an artificial cilium with capacitance sensing for mucus layer thickness, offering unique self-calibration, adjustable sensitivity, and range, all enabled by external magnetic fields generated by a wearable magnetic actuation system.”