Diamond dust for MRI, 4D printing creates advanced devices

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Hello, and welcome to the Physics World weekly

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podcast.

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I'm Hamish Johnston.

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Coming up in this episode, I'm in conversation

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with an expert on 4 d printing,

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who explains how the technology can be used

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in applications as diverse as medicine and flat

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pack furniture.

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And he also explains how he's used A3D

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printed material

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to create

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self healing asphalt.

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But first, physics world's margaret Harris is in

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conversation with a neuroscientist

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and physicist

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who discovered by accident that diamond dust is

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a highly effective

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contrast agent for magnetic

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resonance

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imaging.

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I'm speaking with Il La

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At the Math Planck Institute for intelligent systems.

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Her background is in physics and also in

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neuroscience research. Hello, Is Elena.

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Hi. Hello Margaret.

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So

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why don't you just begin by telling me

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a little bit about your general research program

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at the Max planck? What are you trying

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to do in your research?

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So I can just save and I first

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came here for an interview. I decided out

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of the blow to apply for the Max

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planck institute, there was actually very interesting

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advertisement.

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For somebody who is who has background in

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the Mri magnetic resonance

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imaging to do some robotic imaging. And I

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will super interesting and curious. What is it

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about, and I applied, and they invited me

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for an interview.

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And then I kinda got into this world

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of,

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micro robots, and I have to see it

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that my boss met city.

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Is actually super super shameless us in this

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area.

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And he does all these robotics that I

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didn't know about, and I think lot of

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people that come to visit our lab are

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like super stoked when they learn about the

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research. So in the nutshell, what we are

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trying to do here is we are trying

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to lose robotics, to deliver the drugs to

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the body. So

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instead of, let's say, take the drugs is

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usually through mouth or

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I,

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the drugs will end up everywhere. So we

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are trying to actually have a focus delivery,

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which will bring those drugs all in and

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their are where they're needed. So for example,

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if you have to treat the cancer when

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we have to kill all the cells in

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your body in order to treat the cancer,

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but you just delivered the drug that will

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actually go the racket to the cancer, and

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then you also have the mechanism to release

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this drug. So it's called on demand

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driver release, and we can also navigate these

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robots to the place

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where it's needed it.

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So super

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interesting.

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So I think your your work is also

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on... You've been doing some work about contrast

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agents tell me a little bit about what

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contrast agents, you know, for listeners who aren't

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familiar with the concept to it. And what

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are they designed to do?

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So the contrast agent, basically in India mri,

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they, I would say the were

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revolutionized the Mri because,

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for example, for the brain imaging,

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brain is

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in oregon, we are the

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agent or more foreign an object can penetrate.

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But now you have discussed first agent then

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can go where the blood barrier is broken,

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which is case and tumors

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and they light up. And if you done

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at this

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agent, you might miss this like,

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small, guess, tissue variances in signal that are

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caused by tumors, but when we have additional

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contrast agent,

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basically, the signal and gets so much higher

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in increase that you are very, it's very

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difficult to my so it helps the doctors

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decide how bad your tumor is

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and,

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yeah. And to actually visualize the tumor much

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better. Special in the case in they're really

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small. It helps basically

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diagnose.

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So it's for diagnostic

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or

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Okay. That sounds like a pretty important substance.

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So so what what chemicals or what substances

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are generally used for contrast agents.

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Okay. So basically, it's ielts that the want

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to these transitional elements and the most famous

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is done you.

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Because it has 7

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electrons. They're are treat. And they lead it's

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para,

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so it's non magnetic, but it's slightly magnetic,

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which is called para.

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And because of that, it relaxes water molecules,

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and that actually

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basic needs to signal enhancement

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by the mechanism of

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t 1 rated imaging.

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Okay. So it reduces the Ti, which is

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1 you to demo relaxation time in the

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Mri. It's a parameter and super confusing, for

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people who familiar. In Mri, usually,

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everybody's talking about Ti and t 2 rated

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images, and Ti are these beautiful images because

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if you have additional contrast agent. They basically

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light up bright

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We had some kind of problem.

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So that they're the best quality images you

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can get.

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Exactly. Yes.

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So... But I guess, you know, there's no

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free lunch. There's always some sort of just

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disadvantage.

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What's the disadvantage of ga as a contrast

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agent? So a disadvantage of ga?

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I would say, first of all, Ga aluminum

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is very toxic, and I forgot to mention

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that ga aluminum ions are extremely toxic. So

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in order to actually inject them into the

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human body, they're being c, so they're attached

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to the chemicals

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to make them more inert, so they are

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actually fixed to these chemicals, so they cannot

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make any reactions with anything in the body.

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So what happens later, nobody knows if the

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leaning

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eventually can escape the key later.

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But what recently has been found

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Well, 1 is that it's causing the kidney

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shoes with people who actually have that kidneys

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to begin with. And the second is it's

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very

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specific, so it goes everywhere so it correlates

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in the tissue in including the brain tissue

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despite the blood brain barrier

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which actually protect the brain from the foreign

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objects or foreign toxins

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that's the purpose.

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However,

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like with the time, it's actually shown that

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it can go through a blood brain barrier.

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Even if it's intact and actually it can

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accumulate. And I think Fda is still keeping

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it very close. I don't got linen and

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it's trying to

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basically rule out better. There is some consequences

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to out. Or it's actually just there and

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it's not doing anything.

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Yeah. So the food and Drug administration has

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has said, don't don't use it unless you

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absolutely have to, which I guess, If you're

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a cancer patient, then, you know, they benefits

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outweigh the costs, but also,

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if you're a cancer patient, you're probably having

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multiple scans, so any effect of the ga

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is gonna be enhanced?

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Correct. Yes.

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So

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what are the alternatives? Are there any alternatives

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to get be So basically, so far, there

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is.

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People came up with these iron monoxide, there

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is small iron monoxide nano particles that are,

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like, 122

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nanometers

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size that can mimic.

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However, the problem is they only work at

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a very low field, which means like 0.5

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tesla to 1 tesla

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I think now the standard for the clinical

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scanner is already 3 tesla, it used to

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be 1.5,

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but I think in United States it's already

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the 3.

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So they will not work as good because

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they had much fire

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monetization than got.

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So they will start they will not be

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as right.

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Right. Okay. Okay.

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So I think we're coming up to the

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work you did now So maybe you could

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just explain what experiment you're were doing and

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and what you... What made the Eureka moment,

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I guess for you. Oh, I can.

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So, basically, I was working, as I said

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from the beginning of the...

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Let's say, interview,

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on the

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small capsules

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to

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to use them for the drug delivery. Choose

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them for this targeted on demand drug delivery.

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And I was using

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nano diamonds because They I wanted to heed

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the capsules using magnetic field or the radio

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frequency field

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Sorry electromagnetic field.

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And diamonds were there just to help with

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the sheet because they have very high sheet

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capacity.

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And I was mixing diamond. I was mixing

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gutter ingredients, some,

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also ga to actually be able to see

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them. And then 1 day, I was very

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frustrated because ga aluminum kept leaking, and you

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can see that it's leaking because all the

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son in the background. He's goes to very

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bright because God both everywhere. And I said,

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okay. No more.

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I'll just do without.

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And that I was very surprised because

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the capsules are are still very bright. And

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I said, wow, this must be due to

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the diamond.

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These small nano diamonds that I was mixing

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in the in the capsules.

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And then I basically just abandoned my

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research

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and started focusing on the nano as a

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contrast agent because I thought that would be

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something big because there are no alternatives.

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And now there are these design particles that

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all suddenly, you know, have the ti 1

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abilities

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So from then, on, I think I... For

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the 2 years,

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basically,

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working on the weekends working king all the

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time,

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I finally yeah, came out with the paper.

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We are we put all our efforts

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together.

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So what are nano diamonds I mean, does...

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Is it just was the name sounds? Like

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tiny tiny pieces of diamond?

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So another diamonds are actually made from d

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definition. So,

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I think summer in Russia, they were d

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the explosives such as Tnt.

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And then there is not explosive or

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d, I think

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and then somebody discovered because they're are full

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of carbon

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that you actually have

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all a sudden appearance of these diamonds.

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And then they started cleaning them, and that's

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how the diamonds the narrow diamonds came about.

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They are very small between... They are actually

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very

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similar in size between 3 to 10 nanometers

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and what else it's interesting. Yes. They're very

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00:10:47,829 --> 00:10:49,825
cheap because if you're trying to make some

279
00:10:49,825 --> 00:10:51,900
money by getting rid of the explosives,

280
00:10:52,315 --> 00:10:55,115
you actually d them land the diamonds, and

281
00:10:55,115 --> 00:10:56,014
then you can

282
00:10:56,394 --> 00:10:59,595
resell them. And I think 1 gram is

283
00:10:59,595 --> 00:11:01,855
something about, like, 30 euros

284
00:11:02,168 --> 00:11:03,678
so it's not very expensive.

285
00:11:04,553 --> 00:11:06,302
Okay. And how much, you know, supposing them

286
00:11:06,302 --> 00:11:07,654
I'm, I know we're getting ahead of ourselves

287
00:11:07,654 --> 00:11:09,085
here. How much would be used in a

288
00:11:09,085 --> 00:11:11,335
typical sort of dose as a as a

289
00:11:11,335 --> 00:11:11,894
contrast agent.

290
00:11:13,095 --> 00:11:15,735
So a typical dose, I don't know for

291
00:11:15,735 --> 00:11:17,975
humans because they're only work with chicken so

292
00:11:17,975 --> 00:11:18,134
far.

293
00:11:19,105 --> 00:11:19,423
But,

294
00:11:20,935 --> 00:11:23,639
so I would say maybe 10 milligrams. I

295
00:11:23,639 --> 00:11:24,912
don't know. I would have to go back

296
00:11:24,912 --> 00:11:27,234
and complete. But it's a small fraction of

297
00:11:27,234 --> 00:11:29,063
of a gram. So it's you're talking about

298
00:11:29,063 --> 00:11:31,688
fraction. Less than exactly 30 euros to do

299
00:11:31,688 --> 00:11:34,329
the contrast agent for for an imaging. Yeah.

300
00:11:34,807 --> 00:11:36,643
I think the other thing that can be

301
00:11:36,643 --> 00:11:38,956
very interesting with use of nano diamonds, if

302
00:11:38,956 --> 00:11:41,191
you wanna track tumors or something like that.

303
00:11:42,325 --> 00:11:44,404
My vision, of course, you have to check

304
00:11:44,404 --> 00:11:46,725
that because I did not have appropriate tumor

305
00:11:46,725 --> 00:11:49,684
model to check this. The diamonds will accumulate

306
00:11:49,684 --> 00:11:50,585
in the tumors

307
00:11:51,217 --> 00:11:53,677
and then they can stay there and because

308
00:11:53,677 --> 00:11:56,136
they don't need anything. Basically, the contrast is

309
00:11:56,136 --> 00:11:58,754
there just because of these particles, the diamonds,

310
00:11:59,961 --> 00:12:01,632
you can track them, and I don't think

311
00:12:01,632 --> 00:12:03,622
you need to rein inject the patient. So

312
00:12:03,622 --> 00:12:05,474
once you introduce the patient

313
00:12:06,168 --> 00:12:08,259
with Diamonds, you can basically

314
00:12:09,048 --> 00:12:11,303
use these diamonds, let's say, forever

315
00:12:12,239 --> 00:12:15,190
to to reenter to repeat the imaging. And

316
00:12:15,190 --> 00:12:18,561
also, even what's more more the

317
00:12:19,111 --> 00:12:20,563
Research is the

318
00:12:21,253 --> 00:12:24,427
drug delivering using diamonds. I think a lot

319
00:12:24,427 --> 00:12:27,719
of researchers are using diamonds as the platform

320
00:12:27,855 --> 00:12:30,399
because they're are non toxic to actually deliver

321
00:12:30,399 --> 00:12:30,637
drugs.

322
00:12:32,545 --> 00:12:34,794
And I think somebody will have to finally

323
00:12:35,089 --> 00:12:36,384
decide better

324
00:12:36,934 --> 00:12:38,455
such a, like, particulate.

325
00:12:38,934 --> 00:12:41,335
If you have, like, particles as a carrier,

326
00:12:41,815 --> 00:12:44,469
is there advantage from the standard like a

327
00:12:44,469 --> 00:12:47,106
pill. We are, basically, everything is down to

328
00:12:47,106 --> 00:12:48,804
the audience and molecules

329
00:12:49,503 --> 00:12:51,500
here and you're actually dealing with the particles

330
00:12:51,500 --> 00:12:53,669
that are Yes. They are nano sized, but

331
00:12:53,669 --> 00:12:54,625
they're are still particles.

332
00:12:55,342 --> 00:12:58,131
Right. Right? And they have to go out

333
00:12:58,131 --> 00:12:59,779
sun in somehow. So

334
00:13:00,298 --> 00:13:03,091
I think that's also needed... That also needs

335
00:13:03,091 --> 00:13:05,565
to be researched for another because I has

336
00:13:05,565 --> 00:13:07,695
to take these diamonds, they will probably go

337
00:13:07,814 --> 00:13:09,888
kidney, they will go to liver, and then

338
00:13:09,888 --> 00:13:11,803
the question is Gary going to get rid

339
00:13:11,803 --> 00:13:12,840
of them eventually.

340
00:13:13,798 --> 00:13:15,963
So... Yeah. So you Obviously, diamond is just

341
00:13:15,963 --> 00:13:18,111
a form of carbon. So in our bodies

342
00:13:18,111 --> 00:13:20,259
are are made of of carbon. Where carbon

343
00:13:20,259 --> 00:13:22,183
based being. So you would think that you

344
00:13:22,183 --> 00:13:24,887
know, possibly there wouldn't be any toxicity, certainly

345
00:13:24,887 --> 00:13:26,239
not as much as gall, but you still

346
00:13:26,239 --> 00:13:28,387
do have to do the research to find

347
00:13:28,387 --> 00:13:28,546
out.

348
00:13:29,341 --> 00:13:29,739
Exactly.

349
00:13:30,629 --> 00:13:33,681
And also, maybe there is some small opportunity

350
00:13:33,820 --> 00:13:35,175
because these dialects,

351
00:13:35,654 --> 00:13:37,967
I think the collaborator of mine told me

352
00:13:37,967 --> 00:13:40,280
that they were able to dissolve them in

353
00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:41,495
a sulfur acid.

354
00:13:42,134 --> 00:13:44,714
So we have in our cells, like likewise,

355
00:13:45,014 --> 00:13:46,075
and other organ

356
00:13:46,455 --> 00:13:48,375
that he have very high ph, actually, sorry,

357
00:13:48,615 --> 00:13:51,255
very low ph and maybe they can also,

358
00:13:51,413 --> 00:13:53,421
like, these all these diamonds. So

359
00:13:54,269 --> 00:13:55,935
so there could be some reaction that's going

360
00:13:55,935 --> 00:13:59,284
going on. Exactly well some some mechanism to

361
00:13:59,284 --> 00:14:02,224
actually dispose them. Mh. Yes. Because I think

362
00:14:02,224 --> 00:14:02,860
you know, obviously,

363
00:14:03,972 --> 00:14:06,053
diamond is carbon and we're made of carbon.

364
00:14:06,292 --> 00:14:07,801
But you wouldn't want to inhale a bunch

365
00:14:07,801 --> 00:14:09,788
of diamond dust. It would be probably be

366
00:14:09,788 --> 00:14:11,536
very bad for your lungs. So it it

367
00:14:11,536 --> 00:14:13,284
does depend on where where the drug is

368
00:14:13,284 --> 00:14:15,052
or where the the the substance is.

369
00:14:16,329 --> 00:14:16,568
Correct.

370
00:14:17,526 --> 00:14:19,601
So what are the next steps in this

371
00:14:19,601 --> 00:14:21,517
research? You know, you... So you you've shown

372
00:14:21,517 --> 00:14:24,081
that Diamond can act... You know, actually, first

373
00:14:24,081 --> 00:14:24,319
question,

374
00:14:24,956 --> 00:14:26,706
why why do you think the diamond is

375
00:14:26,706 --> 00:14:28,456
acting like a contrast agent?

376
00:14:29,823 --> 00:14:31,572
That is very good question. And I don't

377
00:14:31,572 --> 00:14:33,719
think we still have a very good answer.

378
00:14:34,276 --> 00:14:37,059
1 is... We actually found that issue air

379
00:14:37,059 --> 00:14:39,388
ox them. So you you hidden them further

380
00:14:39,699 --> 00:14:42,117
you actually enhanced 6 times

381
00:14:42,816 --> 00:14:44,654
rate, which is actually quite a lot.

382
00:14:45,293 --> 00:14:47,770
And why is that we still don't to

383
00:14:47,770 --> 00:14:50,092
know exactly. So if there, like,

384
00:14:52,714 --> 00:14:54,304
what people refer to

385
00:14:55,019 --> 00:14:57,578
are the defects in the crystal lettuce So

386
00:14:57,578 --> 00:14:59,889
these are diamond particles. We know that because

387
00:14:59,889 --> 00:15:00,947
we did the text,

388
00:15:01,483 --> 00:15:04,374
test using, like, x rays spec spec,

389
00:15:05,244 --> 00:15:07,317
and other methods, so they are crystals. We

390
00:15:07,317 --> 00:15:09,870
also observed and leonard T, so they have

391
00:15:09,870 --> 00:15:10,827
the crystals structure.

392
00:15:11,465 --> 00:15:13,698
But they probably have some defects in the

393
00:15:13,698 --> 00:15:14,676
crystal structure

394
00:15:14,988 --> 00:15:16,045
And the other possibility

395
00:15:16,500 --> 00:15:16,819
is,

396
00:15:17,853 --> 00:15:20,718
from impurities, like from d destination chamber, they

397
00:15:20,718 --> 00:15:21,934
can have some iron

398
00:15:22,404 --> 00:15:25,347
So maybe from this iron molecules or ios,

399
00:15:25,984 --> 00:15:27,677
did they have the team on

400
00:15:28,212 --> 00:15:29,246
properties we don't well.

401
00:15:30,295 --> 00:15:32,466
So that's also maybe something to

402
00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:33,978
research further

403
00:15:34,830 --> 00:15:35,569
to investigate.

404
00:15:36,993 --> 00:15:38,581
So what are the the next steps for

405
00:15:38,581 --> 00:15:40,011
you? Are you continuing to work on this?

406
00:15:40,170 --> 00:15:41,520
Or if you pass it on to someone

407
00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:41,997
else or...

408
00:15:42,950 --> 00:15:45,253
I think I will still continue because I'm

409
00:15:45,253 --> 00:15:47,972
still super curious well to find out what

410
00:15:47,972 --> 00:15:49,348
exactly makes them

411
00:15:50,281 --> 00:15:52,430
to have these relativity properties.

412
00:15:53,067 --> 00:15:55,312
And also, I would like to use them,

413
00:15:55,551 --> 00:15:57,383
I would love to collaborate with somebody who

414
00:15:57,383 --> 00:16:00,172
has a tumor models to actually see better,

415
00:16:00,331 --> 00:16:03,439
you know, what we are actually guessing that

416
00:16:03,439 --> 00:16:05,922
can happen that we can really use them

417
00:16:05,922 --> 00:16:07,911
to to visualize the geo.

418
00:16:08,628 --> 00:16:11,333
So I would like to establish some collaboration.

419
00:16:12,543 --> 00:16:13,181
And then,

420
00:16:13,739 --> 00:16:15,732
use them for the drug delivery maybe,

421
00:16:16,529 --> 00:16:18,682
and then, of course, go back to my

422
00:16:18,682 --> 00:16:20,515
original s exactly great search.

423
00:16:21,408 --> 00:16:21,727
Eventually.

424
00:16:22,764 --> 00:16:24,279
So what is it about... You know, you

425
00:16:24,279 --> 00:16:26,273
talked about, you know, sort of working, you

426
00:16:26,273 --> 00:16:28,267
know, all all the hours that God sends

427
00:16:28,267 --> 00:16:29,703
to get this paper done? What is it

428
00:16:29,703 --> 00:16:31,631
this sort of keeps you going and is

429
00:16:31,631 --> 00:16:33,306
so excited about this stuff. You know, what

430
00:16:33,306 --> 00:16:33,965
is it

431
00:16:34,342 --> 00:16:35,219
that keeps you going?

432
00:16:36,176 --> 00:16:39,857
Oh, because research is like, rabbit hole you

433
00:16:39,857 --> 00:16:41,766
can go on and on and there is

434
00:16:41,766 --> 00:16:45,505
always some real clue that, like, you go

435
00:16:45,505 --> 00:16:46,595
to bed and you see

436
00:16:47,032 --> 00:16:49,498
I have to try this. And then, literally,

437
00:16:49,736 --> 00:16:51,248
I cannot out do it to come to

438
00:16:51,248 --> 00:16:53,316
work and actually try something.

439
00:16:53,887 --> 00:16:56,349
Or if I put something for scanning,

440
00:16:56,905 --> 00:16:58,334
I would, like, get up in the middle

441
00:16:58,334 --> 00:17:00,081
of the night just to see the results.

442
00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:02,384
So I would say that I'm, like, extremely

443
00:17:02,384 --> 00:17:02,702
curious,

444
00:17:03,431 --> 00:17:05,811
and then it's my curiosity that drives me.

445
00:17:06,446 --> 00:17:06,946
So

446
00:17:07,477 --> 00:17:09,302
simply, I can't wait to see the results.

447
00:17:09,619 --> 00:17:10,992
I would think about something

448
00:17:11,619 --> 00:17:13,475
I mean there are thousands of possibilities.

449
00:17:14,012 --> 00:17:16,006
I was saying these diamonds, I was very

450
00:17:16,006 --> 00:17:16,325
lucky,

451
00:17:17,043 --> 00:17:19,675
more lucky than clever because I will read

452
00:17:19,675 --> 00:17:21,603
something and I would say, oh, this such

453
00:17:21,603 --> 00:17:24,466
a great idea, like air oxidation, I have

454
00:17:24,466 --> 00:17:26,534
to try that, or I would talk to

455
00:17:26,534 --> 00:17:28,283
my colleagues, and they will tell me, but

456
00:17:28,283 --> 00:17:30,509
what about this? And then I will try

457
00:17:30,509 --> 00:17:31,328
that. So

458
00:17:31,716 --> 00:17:33,700
I would say that this group of Met

459
00:17:33,700 --> 00:17:36,793
city is extremely stimulating group. We have so

460
00:17:36,793 --> 00:17:37,904
many smart colleagues.

461
00:17:38,634 --> 00:17:41,910
And it's like super stimulating environment. And then

462
00:17:41,910 --> 00:17:44,146
you're in such an environment, I mean, you

463
00:17:44,146 --> 00:17:44,945
have to succeed.

464
00:17:46,319 --> 00:17:48,960
And I really like how he's making his

465
00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:50,819
students very very successful

466
00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:52,880
individuals. I think when they are finished with

467
00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:53,599
their Phd,

468
00:17:54,095 --> 00:17:57,394
they're already super successful. They have papers, probably

469
00:17:57,615 --> 00:17:58,335
nature science,

470
00:17:58,894 --> 00:18:00,595
all these, like, super high

471
00:18:01,454 --> 00:18:02,095
impact papers.

472
00:18:03,069 --> 00:18:03,569
Or

473
00:18:03,948 --> 00:18:04,348
journals?

474
00:18:04,907 --> 00:18:05,887
Y elena Las.

475
00:18:06,346 --> 00:18:07,544
Thank you very much. I hope you go

476
00:18:07,544 --> 00:18:09,782
down some more interesting rabbit holes in your

477
00:18:09,782 --> 00:18:11,220
career. Thank you.

478
00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:19,777
There was Elena

479
00:18:20,090 --> 00:18:20,590
La

480
00:18:21,130 --> 00:18:21,630
Z

481
00:18:22,090 --> 00:18:25,630
of the Max planck Institute for intelligent systems

482
00:18:26,090 --> 00:18:26,590
in

483
00:18:27,049 --> 00:18:29,776
conversation with Physics World's Margaret Harris.

484
00:18:30,811 --> 00:18:34,473
1 of the most exciting manufacturing techniques to

485
00:18:34,473 --> 00:18:35,372
capture the

486
00:18:35,747 --> 00:18:36,247
imagination

487
00:18:36,559 --> 00:18:38,893
so far in the 20 first century

488
00:18:39,350 --> 00:18:40,865
is 3 d printing.

489
00:18:41,583 --> 00:18:44,852
That's creating an object by adding layers of

490
00:18:44,852 --> 00:18:45,251
material.

491
00:18:45,825 --> 00:18:48,384
Using a computer guided machine.

492
00:18:49,105 --> 00:18:50,164
4 d printing

493
00:18:50,545 --> 00:18:53,924
extends this concept into the dimension of time

494
00:18:54,224 --> 00:18:55,859
as our next guest

495
00:18:56,236 --> 00:18:56,634
explains.

496
00:19:04,063 --> 00:19:06,138
I'm joined down the line from Nottingham Trent

497
00:19:06,298 --> 00:19:06,798
University

498
00:19:07,336 --> 00:19:08,794
by Marty Bo,

499
00:19:09,491 --> 00:19:12,226
who is a senior lecturer in the universities

500
00:19:12,697 --> 00:19:14,208
department of engineering,

501
00:19:14,764 --> 00:19:16,695
school of science and technology.

502
00:19:17,626 --> 00:19:19,875
Hi, Maddie. Welcome to the podcast.

503
00:19:21,044 --> 00:19:23,375
Hi, Hamish. It's a pleasure to be here

504
00:19:23,375 --> 00:19:26,335
today. Thank you for having me. So first

505
00:19:26,335 --> 00:19:29,694
things first, I'm, mad, what is 4 d

506
00:19:29,694 --> 00:19:30,174
printing?

507
00:19:30,509 --> 00:19:32,349
Because I'm guessing probably some of our listeners

508
00:19:32,349 --> 00:19:34,029
have heard of 3 d printing,

509
00:19:34,430 --> 00:19:37,070
but what what is that extra dimension?

510
00:19:38,349 --> 00:19:40,221
Yes. So for the printing

511
00:19:40,677 --> 00:19:43,626
is an advanced form of trade printing or

512
00:19:43,626 --> 00:19:44,763
additive manufacturing.

513
00:19:45,379 --> 00:19:48,125
And introduces time as the forced

514
00:19:48,502 --> 00:19:48,661
dimension.

515
00:19:49,378 --> 00:19:50,595
So this process

516
00:19:51,051 --> 00:19:51,551
involves

517
00:19:51,928 --> 00:19:53,894
painting dynamic objects

518
00:19:54,255 --> 00:19:56,674
that can change their shape, properties

519
00:19:57,214 --> 00:19:58,195
or functionality

520
00:19:58,894 --> 00:20:00,894
in response to external steward,

521
00:20:01,535 --> 00:20:02,434
such as temperature,

522
00:20:03,710 --> 00:20:04,929
light, moisture,

523
00:20:05,629 --> 00:20:07,230
electric, or magnetic fields.

524
00:20:07,950 --> 00:20:09,569
So to put it simply

525
00:20:09,950 --> 00:20:12,484
for the printing is 3 printing of the

526
00:20:12,684 --> 00:20:13,664
smart materials

527
00:20:14,285 --> 00:20:15,825
to create dynamic

528
00:20:16,125 --> 00:20:16,625
structures

529
00:20:17,164 --> 00:20:19,484
that adapt or respond over time.

530
00:20:20,457 --> 00:20:21,969
I see. And can you give us a

531
00:20:21,969 --> 00:20:24,937
few examples of systems that have been created

532
00:20:25,074 --> 00:20:26,348
using for d printing?

533
00:20:27,383 --> 00:20:29,713
Yes. Sure. So a key example of the

534
00:20:29,713 --> 00:20:32,110
4 d printing is self folding a structure.

535
00:20:32,749 --> 00:20:37,005
So these cell falling structures can assemble themselves

536
00:20:37,479 --> 00:20:39,956
when, for example, if we hit them, these

537
00:20:39,956 --> 00:20:43,632
technology technologies is used in many applications, such

538
00:20:43,632 --> 00:20:45,070
as biomedical stands,

539
00:20:45,723 --> 00:20:49,331
So these self expanding your sands can expand

540
00:20:49,867 --> 00:20:52,895
when you deliver them inside the blood cells.

541
00:20:53,309 --> 00:20:56,421
And they opened the blood kind of blocked

542
00:20:56,421 --> 00:20:56,900
arteries.

543
00:20:57,379 --> 00:21:00,252
All another example could be in flat pack

544
00:21:00,252 --> 00:21:00,752
furniture.

545
00:21:01,384 --> 00:21:03,049
So these structures can,

546
00:21:03,842 --> 00:21:04,342
self

547
00:21:04,715 --> 00:21:06,539
assemble themselves, and,

548
00:21:07,095 --> 00:21:08,522
when they... You unpack them.

549
00:21:09,569 --> 00:21:10,867
So another example

550
00:21:11,565 --> 00:21:12,624
is variable

551
00:21:13,801 --> 00:21:17,154
excel. These texts are can adjust

552
00:21:17,872 --> 00:21:19,011
kind of pros.

553
00:21:19,644 --> 00:21:21,421
To regulate the body temperature.

554
00:21:22,199 --> 00:21:22,699
So

555
00:21:23,077 --> 00:21:25,493
another example could be the building ventilators.

556
00:21:26,270 --> 00:21:28,367
So these building ventilators,

557
00:21:29,478 --> 00:21:32,751
kind of, they have adaptive windows, and they

558
00:21:32,751 --> 00:21:37,222
can automatically open and close to regulate the

559
00:21:37,222 --> 00:21:38,020
indoor climates.

560
00:21:38,833 --> 00:21:40,587
Marty, can we go back to the first

561
00:21:40,587 --> 00:21:42,421
example that you gave, and that is of

562
00:21:42,421 --> 00:21:43,479
a a biomedical

563
00:21:44,175 --> 00:21:46,646
stent. Can we talk a bit about how

564
00:21:46,646 --> 00:21:49,617
40 d printed objects are used in medicine.

565
00:21:50,016 --> 00:21:52,513
I I assume what happens is that the

566
00:21:52,573 --> 00:21:55,265
the the object is put into the body

567
00:21:55,545 --> 00:21:58,424
and there it responds to some sort of

568
00:21:58,424 --> 00:21:58,924
change

569
00:21:59,384 --> 00:22:00,365
and activates

570
00:22:00,744 --> 00:22:02,184
itself. Is is that what happens?

571
00:22:02,838 --> 00:22:05,215
Yes. Exactly. So at the moment, we 4

572
00:22:05,215 --> 00:22:06,349
the print biomedical

573
00:22:06,721 --> 00:22:07,038
stands,

574
00:22:07,751 --> 00:22:08,385
so those,

575
00:22:09,099 --> 00:22:09,916
small tubes

576
00:22:10,462 --> 00:22:13,399
And, you know, when when we ages our

577
00:22:13,399 --> 00:22:13,899
arteries,

578
00:22:15,066 --> 00:22:15,622
becomes narrow

579
00:22:16,336 --> 00:22:19,688
becomes narrower. Okay? So for opening that blocked

580
00:22:19,688 --> 00:22:21,913
arteries, we need some kind of devices like

581
00:22:21,913 --> 00:22:22,390
their stands.

582
00:22:23,423 --> 00:22:26,784
So 4 d printed stands can help us

583
00:22:27,254 --> 00:22:28,612
to open those

584
00:22:29,331 --> 00:22:29,651
cages.

585
00:22:30,370 --> 00:22:32,927
Okay? So that's 1 of their applications in

586
00:22:32,927 --> 00:22:33,667
into biomedical

587
00:22:34,365 --> 00:22:34,865
field

588
00:22:35,179 --> 00:22:36,297
And bear in mind,

589
00:22:36,935 --> 00:22:39,910
the the stimulus could be the blood temperature

590
00:22:40,209 --> 00:22:42,923
that can activate the cells and it can

591
00:22:42,923 --> 00:22:44,221
close and it can open

592
00:22:44,931 --> 00:22:47,392
the blocked artery, or it could be magnetic

593
00:22:47,392 --> 00:22:50,330
fist. You can also use the magnetic fields

594
00:22:50,330 --> 00:22:53,370
remotely and activate those stats. So

595
00:22:54,398 --> 00:22:57,032
when it's complete activation, it could be directly,

596
00:22:57,431 --> 00:22:59,267
like, the blood temperature, or it could be

597
00:22:59,267 --> 00:23:00,863
remotely, like the magnetic fit.

598
00:23:01,821 --> 00:23:04,872
I say, And are these 40 d materials?

599
00:23:05,031 --> 00:23:07,449
Is there always some sort of external

600
00:23:07,987 --> 00:23:11,752
stimulus that's required to to cause the change

601
00:23:11,752 --> 00:23:13,923
or or could you create A4D

602
00:23:14,139 --> 00:23:17,185
material that I don't know it. It... It's

603
00:23:17,402 --> 00:23:19,351
it's structure evolves

604
00:23:19,887 --> 00:23:21,163
slowly over time,

605
00:23:22,439 --> 00:23:23,953
without a stimulus.

606
00:23:24,511 --> 00:23:25,867
You know, I'm I'm sort of thinking of

607
00:23:25,867 --> 00:23:29,009
something that's sort of spring loaded and and

608
00:23:29,066 --> 00:23:30,499
moves it mechanically.

609
00:23:32,727 --> 00:23:34,734
Yes, actually. So sometimes,

610
00:23:35,373 --> 00:23:36,332
we need kind of,

611
00:23:37,131 --> 00:23:37,631
external

612
00:23:38,170 --> 00:23:38,569
stimulus,

613
00:23:39,768 --> 00:23:42,506
like the magnetic feed electric field, moisture

614
00:23:42,979 --> 00:23:46,105
temperature so on. And sometimes it's internal

615
00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:47,037
kind of

616
00:23:47,594 --> 00:23:49,584
stimulus. So when it comes to Internet, again,

617
00:23:49,743 --> 00:23:52,312
you need a trigger. As you mentioned, if

618
00:23:52,543 --> 00:23:54,950
if for example, we before the printed structure

619
00:23:55,562 --> 00:23:59,217
and kind of induce some forces inside the

620
00:23:59,217 --> 00:24:00,806
material, Again, we need a trigger.

621
00:24:01,456 --> 00:24:03,756
To release that force to release that the

622
00:24:03,756 --> 00:24:05,049
spring. So

623
00:24:05,501 --> 00:24:07,325
I was say to to my knowledge, we

624
00:24:07,325 --> 00:24:08,514
always need the trigger.

625
00:24:09,721 --> 00:24:11,948
And I I also wanted to have a

626
00:24:11,948 --> 00:24:12,823
chat with you

627
00:24:13,778 --> 00:24:16,059
about work that you've done on 3 d

628
00:24:16,259 --> 00:24:16,759
printed

629
00:24:17,296 --> 00:24:19,210
materials. And and 1 of the things that

630
00:24:19,210 --> 00:24:20,428
you've worked on recently

631
00:24:20,965 --> 00:24:23,858
is the use of 3 d printed

632
00:24:24,315 --> 00:24:25,931
lap meta materials

633
00:24:26,323 --> 00:24:28,491
in self healing asphalt?

634
00:24:28,945 --> 00:24:31,408
So so what is self healing asphalt?

635
00:24:31,964 --> 00:24:34,347
And how can it benefit from the addition

636
00:24:34,347 --> 00:24:34,799
of

637
00:24:35,238 --> 00:24:36,194
advanced materials.

638
00:24:37,788 --> 00:24:40,896
Yes. So self healing asphalt fault is designed

639
00:24:40,896 --> 00:24:42,171
to repair itself.

640
00:24:42,903 --> 00:24:45,764
And close the cracks in the micro and

641
00:24:45,764 --> 00:24:48,625
me scales that naturally developed over time.

642
00:24:49,340 --> 00:24:49,840
So

643
00:24:50,469 --> 00:24:53,259
it extends the as for the life span

644
00:24:53,259 --> 00:24:56,768
and reduces the main maintenance cost. So our

645
00:24:56,768 --> 00:24:59,295
research, that was a collaboration between

646
00:24:59,733 --> 00:25:00,928
universities of nottingham ne,

647
00:25:02,442 --> 00:25:04,274
focus on the use of the 3 d

648
00:25:04,274 --> 00:25:05,412
printed mechanical

649
00:25:05,868 --> 00:25:06,346
materials.

650
00:25:06,838 --> 00:25:09,697
As the innovative solution in the field. So

651
00:25:09,697 --> 00:25:10,197
in,

652
00:25:10,650 --> 00:25:13,930
process, are, I should perhaps introduce mechanical or

653
00:25:13,986 --> 00:25:14,463
materials.

654
00:25:15,113 --> 00:25:16,226
So these

655
00:25:16,703 --> 00:25:18,475
mechanical materials are

656
00:25:18,929 --> 00:25:22,211
engineered my materials with unique and

657
00:25:22,586 --> 00:25:24,176
presented mechanical properties.

658
00:25:24,669 --> 00:25:27,147
So back to your question and our research,

659
00:25:28,266 --> 00:25:32,182
we embedded these mechanical materials into the asphalt.

660
00:25:32,741 --> 00:25:35,071
These materials could a kind of,

661
00:25:36,028 --> 00:25:39,696
help as fault, absorb higher energy. So compared

662
00:25:39,696 --> 00:25:42,486
to the, kind of traditional as far, these

663
00:25:42,486 --> 00:25:42,986
are

664
00:25:43,299 --> 00:25:43,618
kind of,

665
00:25:44,337 --> 00:25:47,211
better in absorbing their energy during you know,

666
00:25:47,690 --> 00:25:49,606
kind of, because of the weight of their

667
00:25:49,606 --> 00:25:50,984
vehicles is that those

668
00:25:51,362 --> 00:25:52,240
dynamic loading.

669
00:25:52,814 --> 00:25:56,330
So we offer them as a replacement to

670
00:25:56,330 --> 00:25:56,830
encapsulate.

671
00:25:59,207 --> 00:26:00,905
So these meta materials

672
00:26:01,218 --> 00:26:03,227
not enhanced self healing

673
00:26:03,998 --> 00:26:04,474
capabilities,

674
00:26:04,951 --> 00:26:08,629
but also mitigate as for unraveling and improved

675
00:26:08,923 --> 00:26:09,423
overall

676
00:26:09,973 --> 00:26:11,569
durability and resilience.

677
00:26:12,208 --> 00:26:14,363
I see. And and when you when you

678
00:26:14,363 --> 00:26:16,459
say that this is put into the asphalt

679
00:26:16,757 --> 00:26:17,849
is is the road

680
00:26:18,690 --> 00:26:20,950
or the pavement still mostly

681
00:26:21,730 --> 00:26:24,769
asphalt with with maybe a bit of meta

682
00:26:24,769 --> 00:26:27,424
material in it or is the meta material,

683
00:26:27,585 --> 00:26:28,565
a significant

684
00:26:28,865 --> 00:26:30,005
chunk of the,

685
00:26:30,785 --> 00:26:31,285
overall

686
00:26:32,705 --> 00:26:34,705
makeup of the of the roadway.

687
00:26:35,675 --> 00:26:38,552
So these are not major elements.

688
00:26:38,924 --> 00:26:41,142
These are minor elements. So we have a

689
00:26:41,142 --> 00:26:42,276
stones, aggregates

690
00:26:42,902 --> 00:26:45,366
as the the to kind of main

691
00:26:45,843 --> 00:26:46,661
on major

692
00:26:47,194 --> 00:26:47,694
elements,

693
00:26:48,148 --> 00:26:50,159
we have mas as a media

694
00:26:50,469 --> 00:26:52,222
And also we embed those

695
00:26:52,780 --> 00:26:56,684
minor elements to enhance energy absorption. So... Because,

696
00:26:56,763 --> 00:26:59,313
you know, wrote as for this, you know,

697
00:26:59,393 --> 00:27:01,883
it's dumb quite long, and then we do

698
00:27:01,883 --> 00:27:05,398
not have capability and even the material to,

699
00:27:05,558 --> 00:27:06,777
make those long

700
00:27:07,156 --> 00:27:09,405
roads, but they are just kind of a

701
00:27:09,405 --> 00:27:09,803
add on.

702
00:27:10,995 --> 00:27:12,585
Right? And so so we can sort of

703
00:27:12,585 --> 00:27:15,049
picture the... I'm picturing the meta material sort

704
00:27:15,049 --> 00:27:16,901
of being in the spaces

705
00:27:17,275 --> 00:27:20,424
between the the stones in the asphalt and

706
00:27:20,644 --> 00:27:20,964
perhaps,

707
00:27:23,684 --> 00:27:26,565
affecting how how how the the system,

708
00:27:27,217 --> 00:27:29,919
responds to force and impacts and things like

709
00:27:29,919 --> 00:27:33,416
that. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah you're right. So they

710
00:27:33,416 --> 00:27:34,314
are kind of,

711
00:27:34,688 --> 00:27:36,454
the, kind of a middleman man. So they

712
00:27:36,454 --> 00:27:39,015
are between the me... They inside the emilia,

713
00:27:39,494 --> 00:27:41,755
and they are between the zones

714
00:27:42,055 --> 00:27:43,515
and because of the flexibility

715
00:27:43,974 --> 00:27:45,115
because they mechanical

716
00:27:45,414 --> 00:27:45,654
materials.

717
00:27:46,226 --> 00:27:48,314
So they provide more flexibility

718
00:27:49,084 --> 00:27:51,625
to absorb their energy compared to their stones.

719
00:27:52,021 --> 00:27:53,585
So have having kind of

720
00:27:54,102 --> 00:27:57,629
20 30 percent of the dose mechanical materials

721
00:27:57,846 --> 00:27:59,621
can enhanced energy absorption

722
00:27:59,997 --> 00:28:02,706
and reduce the kind of, maintenance calls,

723
00:28:03,358 --> 00:28:03,858
clocks

724
00:28:04,235 --> 00:28:06,409
and kind of increase in life.

725
00:28:07,184 --> 00:28:10,452
I see. Okay. And and we we've spoken

726
00:28:10,452 --> 00:28:12,003
a bit about medical

727
00:28:12,456 --> 00:28:15,315
applications. You work on 3 d materials for

728
00:28:15,315 --> 00:28:15,815
medical

729
00:28:16,347 --> 00:28:18,253
applications. Can can you talk about

730
00:28:18,808 --> 00:28:20,476
some of your research in that field?

731
00:28:21,843 --> 00:28:22,082
Yes,

732
00:28:22,718 --> 00:28:25,025
sure. So in the in the medical field,

733
00:28:25,343 --> 00:28:27,332
our focus has been on the design,

734
00:28:27,904 --> 00:28:31,034
and trigger printing of the lattice scaffold

735
00:28:31,649 --> 00:28:32,946
for ortho orthopedic

736
00:28:33,323 --> 00:28:33,823
and

737
00:28:35,156 --> 00:28:37,578
applications. I mean, for the external an internal

738
00:28:38,349 --> 00:28:41,129
use it. Right? So for the orthopedic,

739
00:28:41,764 --> 00:28:45,281
we've developed metal scaffold force, that mimic the

740
00:28:45,281 --> 00:28:45,781
mechanical

741
00:28:46,318 --> 00:28:49,670
and biological called behavior of the bones and

742
00:28:49,670 --> 00:28:50,069
tendons.

743
00:28:50,867 --> 00:28:51,367
So

744
00:28:51,839 --> 00:28:55,928
they are, used to support tissue growth and

745
00:28:56,704 --> 00:29:00,134
regeneration. And they for the organ repair and

746
00:29:00,134 --> 00:29:00,634
replacement

747
00:29:01,251 --> 00:29:01,570
trap.

748
00:29:02,141 --> 00:29:03,038
So on the

749
00:29:04,047 --> 00:29:04,285
side,

750
00:29:05,556 --> 00:29:08,438
we've designed and really 4 the printing devices

751
00:29:08,891 --> 00:29:10,797
like active hand trimmer,

752
00:29:11,690 --> 00:29:12,349
stock suppression

753
00:29:12,809 --> 00:29:12,970
overseas.

754
00:29:13,849 --> 00:29:14,169
So,

755
00:29:14,970 --> 00:29:15,690
we also create,

756
00:29:16,569 --> 00:29:18,669
at the moment, we also create mechanical

757
00:29:19,384 --> 00:29:22,900
lattice phrases for supporting the broken bones or

758
00:29:22,900 --> 00:29:23,379
tendons,

759
00:29:23,779 --> 00:29:25,158
and even most recently

760
00:29:26,016 --> 00:29:29,549
we've, kind of begun trigger painting oral sensing

761
00:29:29,549 --> 00:29:31,009
braces that can

762
00:29:31,309 --> 00:29:31,809
manage

763
00:29:32,350 --> 00:29:35,630
saliva and detect the kind of different diseases.

764
00:29:36,525 --> 00:29:38,545
I see. And and what are the benefits

765
00:29:38,605 --> 00:29:40,384
of of using these

766
00:29:40,765 --> 00:29:41,744
special materials

767
00:29:42,204 --> 00:29:44,125
over, I suppose more traditional?

768
00:29:45,337 --> 00:29:47,354
Materials that are used to make medical

769
00:29:47,812 --> 00:29:48,312
appliances.

770
00:29:49,408 --> 00:29:50,387
Yeah. So

771
00:29:51,084 --> 00:29:52,462
so when come to the

772
00:29:53,969 --> 00:29:55,082
inside the human body,

773
00:29:55,717 --> 00:29:58,521
actually, we well, ddr pioneering technology.

774
00:29:59,213 --> 00:29:59,713
So

775
00:30:00,087 --> 00:30:01,970
at the moment, if you look at it

776
00:30:02,486 --> 00:30:03,994
traditional way for the, you know,

777
00:30:05,027 --> 00:30:06,138
kind of orthopedic.

778
00:30:06,773 --> 00:30:09,076
So they they are mostly using the,

779
00:30:09,712 --> 00:30:11,323
kind of bulky key

780
00:30:11,951 --> 00:30:14,891
metal based things, and and even, you know,

781
00:30:15,209 --> 00:30:17,752
since some some cases we borrow, for example,

782
00:30:18,467 --> 00:30:20,215
part of bone from the other parts,

783
00:30:20,867 --> 00:30:23,496
to replace it. So at the moment, these

784
00:30:23,496 --> 00:30:23,996
technologies

785
00:30:24,850 --> 00:30:26,306
are a kind of pioneering

786
00:30:26,922 --> 00:30:29,732
so they they they kind of held us

787
00:30:30,123 --> 00:30:30,623
to

788
00:30:30,999 --> 00:30:33,867
reduce the rely and the the the body

789
00:30:33,867 --> 00:30:36,598
of the person, imagine if it's elderly,

790
00:30:37,069 --> 00:30:37,867
and they do have,

791
00:30:38,985 --> 00:30:41,641
a lot of bone in their body. So

792
00:30:41,700 --> 00:30:43,855
where to borrow some bones. Right? So some

793
00:30:43,855 --> 00:30:46,330
of them are unique opportunities for us.

794
00:30:46,983 --> 00:30:50,012
To in to enhance the health system and

795
00:30:50,092 --> 00:30:50,911
Health care

796
00:30:51,527 --> 00:30:52,027
quality.

797
00:30:52,643 --> 00:30:53,918
And where come the

798
00:30:55,684 --> 00:30:56,423
application was

799
00:30:56,796 --> 00:30:57,669
outside of the body.

800
00:30:58,225 --> 00:31:00,606
Yeah. For example, we have different braces.

801
00:31:01,083 --> 00:31:02,035
But at the moment,

802
00:31:02,924 --> 00:31:05,467
we use the meta materials and for printing

803
00:31:05,467 --> 00:31:06,977
to reduce the, kind of,

804
00:31:07,931 --> 00:31:08,885
the matter material stage,

805
00:31:09,759 --> 00:31:10,975
the cost of the

806
00:31:11,587 --> 00:31:14,093
production, and also make it customized.

807
00:31:14,470 --> 00:31:16,860
So so when it's to the 3 printing,

808
00:31:17,338 --> 00:31:20,366
we can produce the devices in a kind

809
00:31:20,366 --> 00:31:24,206
of customized way, for the patient, kind of,

810
00:31:25,482 --> 00:31:25,641
specification?

811
00:31:26,518 --> 00:31:29,148
I see. And when when you're designing these

812
00:31:29,148 --> 00:31:31,158
materials, are you are is there any sort

813
00:31:31,158 --> 00:31:31,897
of bio

814
00:31:32,595 --> 00:31:34,830
involved or you. If if if you want

815
00:31:34,830 --> 00:31:37,406
to if you want something that will go

816
00:31:37,704 --> 00:31:40,114
and help a bone heel to you sort

817
00:31:40,114 --> 00:31:42,191
of make it look a bit like a

818
00:31:42,191 --> 00:31:44,428
bone in terms of its structure so it

819
00:31:44,428 --> 00:31:44,928
provides

820
00:31:45,307 --> 00:31:46,126
a scaffold.

821
00:31:47,318 --> 00:31:51,090
Yeah. So by and by inspiration are keys

822
00:31:51,388 --> 00:31:53,803
in the developing those kind of

823
00:31:56,263 --> 00:31:58,432
tissues for regeneration. So

824
00:31:59,124 --> 00:32:00,951
what we do and the many such as

825
00:32:01,349 --> 00:32:03,668
do They look at the, kind of

826
00:32:04,463 --> 00:32:04,963
natural

827
00:32:05,416 --> 00:32:08,674
tissues. They get inspired from the design from

828
00:32:08,674 --> 00:32:10,661
the properties from the materials.

829
00:32:11,153 --> 00:32:13,772
That modern nature or the use. And then

830
00:32:13,772 --> 00:32:16,550
they from the debt inspiration, they try to

831
00:32:16,550 --> 00:32:18,002
mimic a structure

832
00:32:18,709 --> 00:32:21,335
that kind of offer very similar,

833
00:32:22,050 --> 00:32:23,506
mechanical and biological

834
00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:24,460
properties.

835
00:32:25,313 --> 00:32:25,472
Yep.

836
00:32:26,442 --> 00:32:29,147
So, Mad, you're on the editorial board of

837
00:32:29,147 --> 00:32:29,703
the journal,

838
00:32:30,260 --> 00:32:32,431
smart materials and structures.

839
00:32:33,297 --> 00:32:34,909
You give us a few examples

840
00:32:35,282 --> 00:32:37,528
of smart materials and structures

841
00:32:38,060 --> 00:32:40,917
that we haven't spoken about today, and you

842
00:32:40,917 --> 00:32:41,394
would find...

843
00:32:42,044 --> 00:32:43,953
You would find papers about them in the

844
00:32:43,953 --> 00:32:44,351
journal.

845
00:32:45,544 --> 00:32:48,567
Yeah. Sure. So small as and structures are

846
00:32:48,567 --> 00:32:50,556
indeed like magical materials.

847
00:32:51,523 --> 00:32:53,427
Because they have extraordinary in features.

848
00:32:54,379 --> 00:32:56,679
We discussed some of them earlier about the

849
00:32:56,679 --> 00:32:57,631
4 d printing.

850
00:32:58,362 --> 00:32:58,760
And

851
00:32:59,635 --> 00:33:02,023
I can add a few more. So for

852
00:33:02,023 --> 00:33:05,047
example, let's considered the piezo electric materials.

853
00:33:06,417 --> 00:33:09,790
These piezo materials can generate electricity

854
00:33:10,247 --> 00:33:12,641
from the mechanical stress. And,

855
00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:16,652
it's incredibly useful for sensing and energy harvesting

856
00:33:17,105 --> 00:33:18,399
applications. And,

857
00:33:19,407 --> 00:33:22,289
when you apply electric field to these materials

858
00:33:22,598 --> 00:33:25,881
they can induce mechanical stress inside the structure

859
00:33:25,938 --> 00:33:26,574
or material.

860
00:33:27,369 --> 00:33:29,834
Another fascinating group of the small mat materials

861
00:33:29,834 --> 00:33:31,901
is the shade memory atoms and polymers,

862
00:33:32,473 --> 00:33:33,750
so they can return

863
00:33:35,105 --> 00:33:37,679
to the original shit by kind of

864
00:33:39,014 --> 00:33:41,827
activation. It could be again, Thermal

865
00:33:42,460 --> 00:33:45,819
thermal, electrical or magnetic fields. And other class

866
00:33:45,819 --> 00:33:46,559
could be

867
00:33:47,500 --> 00:33:49,819
for crystals. They change the color,

868
00:33:51,033 --> 00:33:53,271
when you expose them to the light.

869
00:33:53,910 --> 00:33:54,410
And

870
00:33:55,109 --> 00:33:57,767
as you can see, these materials are versatile

871
00:33:57,986 --> 00:34:01,982
and have many applications. Ranging from aerospace automotive

872
00:34:01,982 --> 00:34:03,094
to Health,

873
00:34:03,650 --> 00:34:06,113
and we use them actually. So the aim

874
00:34:06,113 --> 00:34:08,155
of using this small materials is

875
00:34:08,832 --> 00:34:10,208
we use them were

876
00:34:11,063 --> 00:34:15,228
adaptive and autonomous behavior we provides significant benefits

877
00:34:15,778 --> 00:34:17,688
So when there's kind of

878
00:34:18,086 --> 00:34:20,099
the, you know, there's a lot of barriers

879
00:34:20,713 --> 00:34:23,914
about the, kind of controlling the situation, For

880
00:34:23,914 --> 00:34:26,555
example, in the space or deep in ocean,

881
00:34:26,954 --> 00:34:28,875
we use this as small materials because they

882
00:34:28,875 --> 00:34:30,494
can offer this autonomous

883
00:34:31,035 --> 00:34:31,434
and

884
00:34:31,914 --> 00:34:32,715
adaptive behavior.

885
00:34:33,763 --> 00:34:36,148
I see. No. That's really interesting. Well, thanks,

886
00:34:36,387 --> 00:34:38,295
Maddie. Thanks for coming on the podcast and

887
00:34:38,295 --> 00:34:41,574
talking about your research and 4 d and

888
00:34:41,574 --> 00:34:42,934
3 d printing and also,

889
00:34:43,815 --> 00:34:45,894
about smart materials in general.

890
00:34:46,375 --> 00:34:48,614
Thank you so much. Hamish for having me

891
00:34:48,614 --> 00:34:49,015
on both,

892
00:34:56,604 --> 00:34:57,560
That was Marty.

893
00:34:57,974 --> 00:34:58,474
Bo,

894
00:34:59,091 --> 00:35:01,108
of Nottingham trent university.

895
00:35:01,964 --> 00:35:03,561
I'm afraid that's all the time we have

896
00:35:03,561 --> 00:35:04,699
for this week's podcast.

897
00:35:05,157 --> 00:35:05,955
Thanks to Marty,

898
00:35:06,608 --> 00:35:10,039
Elena, and Margaret for joining me today. And

899
00:35:10,039 --> 00:35:13,071
a special thanks to our producer, Fred Isles,

900
00:35:13,884 --> 00:35:16,037
we'll be back again next week. But in

901
00:35:16,037 --> 00:35:19,307
the meantime, if you've missed our first physics

902
00:35:19,307 --> 00:35:22,976
world live panel discussion, which was on quantum

903
00:35:22,976 --> 00:35:23,375
sensors.

904
00:35:23,949 --> 00:35:25,867
You still have a chance to view it.

905
00:35:26,587 --> 00:35:29,085
Just click on the Physics world live button

906
00:35:29,224 --> 00:35:32,021
at the top of the Physics World homepage.

907
00:35:32,581 --> 00:35:35,068
And when you're there, you can register for

908
00:35:35,068 --> 00:35:38,176
our next live event, which is on the

909
00:35:38,176 --> 00:35:39,849
20 sixth of September.

910
00:35:40,487 --> 00:35:40,987
Then

911
00:35:41,300 --> 00:35:44,660
we're con a panel of experts who will

912
00:35:44,660 --> 00:35:47,860
ponder the future of particle physics.