Open air atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) enhanced chemical vapour deposition process was used to deposit biocompatible SiO x /TiO x composite coatings. The as deposited films are hydrophilic and show visible light induced photocatalytic effect, which is a consequence of the formation of defects in the TiO x structure due to the plasma process. This photocatalytic effect was verified by the demonstration of an antimicrobial effect under visible light on E. coli as well as by degradation of Rhodamine B. The films are non-cytotoxic as shown by the cytocompatibility tests. The films are conductive to cell growth and are stable in DMEM and isopropanol. The structural evaluation using SEM, EDS and XPS shows a dispersion of TiO x phase in a SiO x CyHz matrix. These analyses were used to correlate the structure-property relationship of the composite coating.

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Cell cultivation in life science laboratories is very time consuming due to the increasing amount of required cell lines The process of cell cultivation includes several steps like seeding, renewing cell culture medium, microscopy of cells and checking environmental parameters like temperature, humidity and CO2 content of the ambient air. Control of environmental parameters for optimal growth conditions is achieved by placing cells inside closed incubators. Opening and closing, as well as moving cell containers manually in and out of incubators for microscopy or other tasks can be detrimental to environmental conditions inside the incubator as well as to cell growth in general. In the context of this work, the stem cell proliferation process including cell culture medium change and phase contrast microscopy is automated by an X-Z-portal robot located inside the incubator itself. The portal robot is vertically mounted in front of the incubator shelves. A novel robotic end effector is presented which has two individually controllable telescopic parallel arms mounted on top of a rotating base which enables handling of T75 and microplate cell cultivation containers as well as actuation of push to drain mechanisms and additional modules for cell culture medium change. The proposed end effector concept provides versatility while minimizing footprint and maximizing serviceable incubator shelf space.

In this report we introduce the design and prototype implementation of a bio hybrid pump driven by cardiac muscle tissue to supply other biological actuators in a larger bio hybrid robotic system sufficiently with nutrition media. Recently introduced bio hybrid pumps are analyzed and compared. On this basis a diaphragm pump design is chosen as physical principal and a functional prototype is designed. The derived requirements regarding the flowrates and long-term stability are verified with mechanical tests of the implemented prototype. The pump itself will consist of a body, an actuating membrane (to carry future muscle cells), a cylindrical spacer block, a returning diaphragm and the retaining ring. During operation the flow direction is implemented by two check valves. Our mechanical verification results show a flowrate of 14.2 ml/min with an activation frequency of 1 Hz. For the displacement of the returning diaphragm a required force of 0.58 N is determined. This is well within the capabilities of cardio myocytes which are in the range of 2 to 5 nN/μm2 and therefore could generate 0.63 to 1.57 N given the area of the 40 mm diameter membrane.