Design of muscle contraction assist devices by liquid crystalline elastomers

Aims: Loss of muscle contractility occurs in different, life-threatening diseases. Current treatments suggest the need for a new generation of contraction assist devices. Liquid Crystalline Elastomers (LCEs) can work as “artificial muscle”, with particular focus on cardiac muscles. Methods and Results: LCEs are biocompatible materials able to deform reversibly in response to given stimuli. Thin (20-µm) LCEs films were prepared and their light-response and mechanical properties measured from small strips (200–400 µm diameter, 3–4 mm length) isometrically mounted between a force transducer and a linear actuator. LCE film samples maximally activated and relaxed by a green light (200 mW/mm2), showed a mechanical behavior similar to force responses of isolated human cardiac myofibrils. The nature of material composition and the stimulus intensity modulated mechanical and kinetic parameters. Conclusions: LCEs are suitable to mimic cardiac muscles. We prepared light-responsive LCEs films, highlighting how different molecular parameters affect different aspects of mechanical functions. Our results open for a new generation of LCE-based contraction assist devices