TIitre de la dissertation: « 3D printing of stimuli-responsive polymeric materials for biomedical applications. »

Promoteur: Monsieur Jean-Marie Raquez

Résumé de la dissertation:The needs of monitoring physiological parameters have ever been an important issue to afford adequate diagnoses in medicine. The present thesis is dedicated to the development of novel stimuli-responsive hydrogels using high-resolution stereolithography technology for biomedical-related sensing applications. Stereolithography technology based on a photopolymerization process represents an elegant manner to personalize devices for tailoring medical treatments to any type of patients. In the first part of the work, we designed subcutaneous implants with on-demand glucose-triggered drug release abilities for diabetic treatment. To address these challenges, 3D-printed phenylboronic acid (PBA)-containing poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-based hydrogels were designed to produce sub-centimeter scaled 3D-printed bionert devices that can be remotely activated with glucose-related for on-demand drug administration in the case of insulin defect. In a second part, self-powered iontronic touch sensors are introduced as potential surgical devices for monitoring the amount of pressure applied during treatment. Our core technology relies on programming electromechanical gradients by means of variations in ion type, charge density, and cross-linking density within ionic polyacrylamide-based hydrogels. It results hydrogel-based iontronics that can generate an output voltage induced by the separation of ions of different mobilities, stimulated by a mechanical load applied to the material. To expand the performances of such iontronic devices, elastomeric iontronics were developed on the basis of poly(ethylene glycol)-based networks. The resulting networks not only exhibit high sensitivity to pressure, but further allow converting any electrical input into mechanical work as actuator, opening the door to proprioceptive applications. Overall, this work highlighted the benefits of combining stimuli-responsive materials and 3D printing technologies in the perspective of fully personalized medicine.