Imperial College London

DrZhengchuTan

Faculty of EngineeringDepartment of Mechanical Engineering

Research Associate
 
 
 
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zhengchu.tan11 CV

 
 
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564City and Guilds BuildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Publication Type
Year
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13 results found

Blaszczak W, Tan Z, Swietach P, 2021, Cost-effective real-time metabolic profiling of cancer cell lines for plate-based assays, Chemosensors, Vol: 9, Pages: 1-16, ISSN: 2227-9040

A fundamental phenotype of cancer cells is their metabolic profile, which is routinely described in terms of glycolytic and respiratory rates. Various devices and protocols have been designed to quantify glycolysis and respiration from the rates of acid production and oxygen utilization, respectively, but many of these approaches have limitations, including concerns about their cost-ineffectiveness, inadequate normalization procedures, or short probing time-frames. As a result, many methods for measuring metabolism are incompatible with cell culture conditions, particularly in the context of high-throughput applications. Here, we present a simple plate-based approach for real-time measurements of acid production and oxygen depletion under typical culture conditions that enable metabolic monitoring for extended periods of time. Using this approach, it is possible to calculate metabolic fluxes and, uniquely, describe the system at steady-state. By controlling the conditions with respect to pH buffering, O2 diffusion, medium volume, and cell numbers, our workflow can accurately describe the metabolic phenotype of cells in terms of molar fluxes. This direct measure of glycolysis and respiration is conducive for between-runs and even between-laboratory comparisons. To illustrate the utility of this approach, we characterize the phenotype of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cell lines and measure their response to a switch of metabolic substrate and the presence of metabolic inhibitors. In summary, the method can deliver a robust appraisal of metabolism in cell lines, with applications in drug screening and in quantitative studies of metabolic regulation.

Journal article

Yap KK, Murali M, Tan Z, Zhou X, Li L, Masen Met al., 2021, Wax-oil lubricants to reduce the shear between skin and PPE, Scientific Reports, Vol: 11, Pages: 1-11, ISSN: 2045-2322

Prolonged use of tight-fitting PPE, e.g., by COVID-19 healthcare workers leads to skin injuries. An important contributor is the shear exerted on the skin due to static friction at the skin-PPE interface. This study aims to develop an optimised wax-oil lubricant that reduces the friction, or shear, in the skin-PPE contact for up to four hours. Lubricants with different wax-oil combinations were prepared using beeswax, paraffin wax, olive oil, and mineral oil. In-vivo friction measurements involving seven participants were conducted by sliding a polydimethylsiloxane ball against the volar forearms to simulate the skin-PPE interface. The maximum static coefficient of friction was measured immediately and four hours after lubricant application. It was found that the coefficient of friction of wax-oil lubricants is mainly governed by the ratio of wax to oil and the thermal stability and morphology of the wax. To maintain long-term lubricity, it is crucial to consider the absorption of oil into the PPE material. The best performing lubricant is a mixture of 20 wt% beeswax, 40 wt% olive oil, and 40 wt% mineral oil, which compared to unlubricated skin, provides 87% (P = 0.0006) and 59% (P = 0.0015) reduction in instantaneous and 4-h coefficient of friction, respectively.

Journal article

Dine A, Bentley E, PoulmarcK L, Dini D, Forte A, Tan Zet al., 2021, A dual nozzle 3D printing system for super soft composite hydrogels, HardwareX, Vol: 9, ISSN: 2468-0672

Due to their inability to sustain their own weight, 3D printing materials as soft as human tissues is challenging. Hereby we describe the development of an extrusion additive manufacturing (AM) machine able to 3D print super soft hydrogels with micro-scale precision. By designing and integrating new subsystems into a conventional extrusion-based 3D printer, we obtained hardware that encompasses a range of new capabilities. In particular, we integrated a heated dual nozzle extrusion system and a cooling platform in the new system. In addition, we altered the electronics and software of the 3D printer to ensure fully automatized procedures are delivered by the 3D printing device, and super-soft tissue mimicking parts are produced. With regards to the electronics, we added new devices to control the temperature of the extrusion system. As for the software, the firmware of the conventional 3D printer was changed and modified to allow for the flow rate control of the ink, thus eliminating overflows in sections of the printing path where the direction/speed changes sharply.

Journal article

Masen MA, Chung A, Dawczyk JU, Dunning Z, Edwards L, Guyott C, Hall TAG, Januszewski RC, Jiang S, Jobanputra RD, Karunaseelan KJ, Kalogeropoulos N, Lima MR, Mancero Castillo CS, Mohammed IK, Murali M, Paszkiewicz FP, Plotczyk M, Pruncu CI, Rodgers E, Russell F, Silversides R, Stoddart JC, Tan Z, Uribe D, Yap KK, Zhou X, Vaidyanathan Ret al., 2020, Evaluating lubricant performance to reduce COVID-19 PPE-related skin injury, PLoS One, Vol: 15, Pages: e0239363-e0239363, ISSN: 1932-6203

BackgroundHealthcare workers around the world are experiencing skin injury due to the extended use of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic. These injuries are the result of high shear stresses acting on the skin, caused by friction with the PPE. This study aims to provide a practical lubricating solution for frontline medical staff working a 4+ hours shift wearing PPE.MethodsA literature review into skin friction and skin lubrication was conducted to identify products and substances that can reduce friction. We evaluated the lubricating performance of commercially available products in vivo using a custom-built tribometer.FindingsMost lubricants provide a strong initial friction reduction, but only few products provide lubrication that lasts for four hours. The response of skin to friction is a complex interplay between the lubricating properties and durability of the film deposited on the surface and the response of skin to the lubricating substance, which include epidermal absorption, occlusion, and water retention.InterpretationTalcum powder, a petrolatum-lanolin mixture, and a coconut oil-cocoa butter-beeswax mixture showed excellent long-lasting low friction. Moisturising the skin results in excessive friction, and the use of products that are aimed at ‘moisturising without leaving a non-greasy feel’ should be prevented. Most investigated dressings also demonstrate excellent performance.

Journal article

Tan Z, Ewen J, Galvan S, Forte A, De Momi E, Rodriguez y Baena F, Dini Det al., 2020, What does a brain feel like?, Journal of Chemical Education, Vol: 97, Pages: 4078-4083, ISSN: 0021-9584

We present a two-part hands-on science outreach demonstration utilizing composite hydrogels to produce realistic models of the human brain. The blends of poly(vinyl alcohol) and Phytagel closely match the mechanical properties of real brain tissue under conditions representative of surgical operations. The composite hydrogel is simple to prepare, biocompatible, and nontoxic, and the required materials are widely available and inexpensive. The first part of the demonstration gives participants the opportunity to feel how soft and deformable our brains are. The second part allows students to perform a mock brain surgery on a simulated tumor. The demonstration tools are suitable for public engagement activities as well as for various student training groups. The activities encompass concepts in polymer chemistry, materials science, and biology.

Journal article

Tan Z, Dini D, Rodriguez y Baena F, Forte Aet al., 2018, Composite hydrogel: A high fidelity soft tissue mimic for surgery, Materials and Design, Vol: 160, Pages: 886-894, ISSN: 0264-1275

Accurate tissue phantoms are difficult to design due to the complex non-linear viscoelastic properties of real soft tissues. A composite hydrogel, resulting from a mix of poly(vinyl) alcohol and phytagel, is able to reproduce the viscoelastic responses of different soft tissues due to its compositional tunability. The aim of this work is to demonstrate the flexibility of the composite hydrogel in mimicking the interactions between surgical tools and various soft tissues, such as brain, lung and liver. Therefore compressive stiffness, insertion forces and frictional forces were used as matching criteria to determine the hydrogel compositions for each soft tissue. A full map of the behaviour of the synthetic material is provided for these three characteristics and the compositions found to best match the mechanical response of brain, lung and liver are reported. The optimised hydrogel samples are then tested and shown to mimic the behaviour of the three tissues with unprecedented fidelity. The effect of each hydrogel constituent on the compressive stiffness, needle insertion and frictional forces is also detailed in this work to explain their individual contributions and synergistic effects. This study opens important opportunities for the realisation of surgical planning and training devices and tools for in-vitro tissue testing.

Journal article

Tan Z, Forte A, Rodriguez y Baena F, Dini Det al., 2018, Needle-tissue interactions during convection enhanced drug delivery in neurosurgery, International Conference on BioTribology

Conference paper

Tan Z, Parisi C, Di Silvio L, Dini D, Forte AEet al., 2017, Cryogenic 3D printing of super soft hydrogels, Scientific Reports, Vol: 7, ISSN: 2045-2322

Conventional 3D bioprinting allows fabrication of 3D scaffolds for biomedical applications. In this contribution we present a cryogenic 3D printing method able to produce stable 3D structures by utilising the liquid to solid phase change of a composite hydrogel (CH) ink. This is achieved by rapidly cooling the ink solution below its freezing point using solid carbon dioxide (CO2) in an isopropanol bath. The setup was able to successfully create 3D complex geometrical structures, with an average compressive stiffness of O(1) kPa (0.49 ± 0.04 kPa stress at 30% compressive strain) and therefore mimics the mechanical properties of the softest tissues found in the human body (e.g. brain and lung). The method was further validated by showing that the 3D printed material was well matched to the cast-moulded equivalent in terms of mechanical properties and microstructure. A preliminary biological evaluation on the 3D printed material, coated with collagen type I, poly-L-lysine and gelatine, was performed by seeding human dermal fibroblasts. Cells showed good attachment and viability on the collagen-coated 3D printed CH. This greatly widens the range of applications for the cryogenically 3D printed CH structures, from soft tissue phantoms for surgical training and simulations to mechanobiology and tissue engineering.

Journal article

Tan Z, Forte AE, Parisi C, Rodriguez Y Baena F, Dini Det al., 2017, Composite hydrogel: A new tool for reproducing the mechanicalbehaviour of soft human tissues, WTC 2017

Conference paper

Tan Z, Bernardini A, Konstantinou I, Forte AE, Galvan S, Van Wachem B, Dini D, Rodriguez Y Baena Fet al., 2017, Diffusion Measurement and Modelling, European Robotics Forum 2017

Conference paper

Leibinger A, Forte AE, Tan Z, Oldfield M, Beyrau F, Dini D, Rodriguez Y Baena Fet al., 2016, Erratum to: Soft tissue phantoms for realistic needle insertion: a comparative study, Annals of Biomedical Engineering, Vol: 44, Pages: 3750-3750, ISSN: 0090-6964

Phantoms are common substitutes for soft tissues in biomechanical research and are usually tuned to match tissue properties using standard testing protocols at small strains. However, the response due to complex tool-tissue interactions can differ depending on the phantom and no comprehensive comparative study has been published to date, which could aid researchers to select suitable materials. In this work, gelatin, a common phantom in literature, and a composite hydrogel developed at Imperial College, were matched for mechanical stiffness to porcine brain, and the interactions during needle insertions within them were analyzed. Specifically, we examined insertion forces for brain and the phantoms; we also measured displacements and strains within the phantoms via a laser-based image correlation technique in combination with fluorescent beads. It is shown that the insertion forces for gelatin and brain agree closely, but that the composite hydrogel better mimics the viscous nature of soft tissue. Both materials match different characteristics of brain, but neither of them is a perfect substitute. Thus, when selecting a phantom material, both the soft tissue properties and the complex tool-tissue interactions arising during tissue manipulation should be taken into consideration. These conclusions are presented in tabular form to aid future selection.

Journal article

Tan Z, Forte AE, Galvan S, Dini D, Rodriguez Y Baena Fet al., 2016, Composite Hydrogel: a New Tool for Reproducing the Mechanical Behaviour of Soft Human Tissues, Biotribology 2016

Conference paper

Leibinger A, Forte AE, Tan Z, Oldfield MJ, Beyrau F, Dini D, Rodriguez Y Baena Fet al., 2015, Soft tissue phantoms for realistic needle insertion: a comparative study, Annals of Biomedical Engineering, Vol: 44, Pages: 2442-2452, ISSN: 1573-9686

Phantoms are common substitutes for soft tissues in biomechanical research and are usually tuned to match tissue properties using standard testing protocols at small strains. However, the response due to complex tool-tissue interactions can differ depending on the phantom and no comprehensive comparative study has been published to date, which could aid researchers to select suitable materials. In this work, gelatin, a common phantom in literature, and a composite hydrogel developed at Imperial College, were matched for mechanical stiffness to porcine brain, and the interactions during needle insertions within them were analyzed. Specifically, we examined insertion forces for brain and the phantoms; we also measured displacements and strains within the phantoms via a laser-based image correlation technique in combination with fluorescent beads. It is shown that the insertion forces for gelatin and brain agree closely, but that the composite hydrogel better mimics the viscous nature of soft tissue. Both materials match different characteristics of brain, but neither of them is a perfect substitute. Thus, when selecting a phantom material, both the soft tissue properties and the complex tool-tissue interactions arising during tissue manipulation should be taken into consideration. These conclusions are presented in tabular form to aid future selection.

Journal article

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