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Publication Metadata only 1200 nm pumped Tm3+:Lu2O3 ceramic lasers(Optical Soc Amer, 2018) Özharar, Sarper; N/A; Department of Physics; Toker, Işınsu Baylam; Sennaroğlu, Alphan; PhD Student; Faculty Member; Department of Physics; N/A; College of Sciences; N/A; 23851We report on an experimental demonstration of a 1200-nm pumped Tm3+:Lu2O3 ceramic laser. By using a gain-switched, tunable Cr4+:forsterite laser, the excitation spectrum was measured, with optimum pumping bands centered near 1198 nm, 1204 nm, and 1211 nm. The highest slope efficiency of 21.5% was obtained at the pump wavelength of 1204 nm. Comparative energy efficiency measurements performed near 1200-nm and 800-nm pumping further showed that nearly 40% improvement was obtained in slope efficiency measured with respect to the incident pump energy for 1200-nm pumping. A transition was further observed from single-wavelength operation at 2066 nm to dual-wavelength operation near 2066 nm and 1967 nm for absorbed pump energies above 50 mu J. In this regime, two consecutive output pulses were observed in the time domain. The shortest temporal duration of the first pulse was 1.1 mu s at the incident pulse energy of 105 mu J. The duration and build-up time of the second pulse remained around 5.9 mu s and 18.5 mu s. We believe that the improved energy efficiency demonstrated for the 1.5% Tm3+:Lu2O3 ceramic with 1200-nm pumping can be used as an alternative scheme for the excitation of Tm3+:Lu2O3 ceramic lasers.Publication Metadata only 18F-FDG PET/CT mean suv and metabolic tumor volume for mean survival time in non-small cell lung cancer(Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2015) Kurtipek, Ercan; Çaycı, Mustafa; Düzgün, Nuri; Esme, Hıdır; Terzi, Yüksel; Bakdık, Süleyman; Ünlü, Yaşar; Burnik, Cengiz; Bekçi, Taha Tahir; N/A; Aygün, Murat Serhat; Teaching Faculty; School of Medicine; Koç University Hospital; 291692Objective: The study was designed to determine the relationship between survival time of standardized uptake value (SUVmax and SUVmean) and metabolic tumor volume (MTV) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and examine the impact of demographic, clinical, and radiological data of these patients on survival. Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of the records of 79 patients with NSCLC who presented to our hospital between May 2010 and March 2013, received a final diagnosis, and underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT for staging. Clinical, radiological, and 18F-FDG PET/CT parameters with an impact on prognosis such as the SUVmax of the primary tumor as calculated by the volumetric region of interest in the 18F-FDG PET/CT scans during initial diagnosis, mean SUV of the tumor, and MTV obtained with a threshold of SUVmax greater than 2.5 were recorded and statistically analyzed. A statistical analysis was carried out based on the clinical, radiological, and PET/CT findings of the patients who were divided into 2 groups: survivors and nonsurvivors. Results: Seventy patients (88.6%) were men, and 9 (11.4%) were women. The mean age was 63.65 ± 11.51 years in the nonsurvivor group (n = 40) versus 62.74 ± 10.60 years in the survivor group (n = 39) (Table 1). The mean survival time from diagnosis was 7.9 ± 6.52 months in the nonsurvivor group versus 14.09 ± 7.41 months in the survivor group. The mean survival time was 12.9 ± 7.9 months for those aged 60 or younger, whereas it was 9.9 ± 7.2 years for those aged 60 or older. According to the Cox regression analysis, higher MTV [relative risk (RR), 1.006; P = 0.03] and mean SUVmax (mSUV) (RR, 1.302; P = 0.03) had a significant impact on shortening of the mean survival time. However, no statistical significance was reached for SUVmax measurements (RR, 0.970; P = 0.39). Furthermore, there was a significant relationship between increased tumor size (andlt;2 cm, 2-4 cm, and ≥4 cm) and shortened mean survival time (P = 0.03). Conclusion: The present study showed that MTV and mSUV of FDG PET/CT scans of the tumor, but not SUVmax, had a significant impact on survival time of patients with NSCLC. Based on this result, we believe that we might have more accurate information about the survival time of our patients if we also evaluate mSUV and MTV in combination with mSUV, which is frequently used for diagnosis and monitoring of patients with NSCLC during our daily practice. © 2015 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.Publication Metadata only 18F-FDG PET/CT texture analysis of anthracotic lymph nodes detected with EBUS and comparison with cytological findings(P.Ziti and Co, 2022) N/A; N/A; N/A; N/A; N/A; N/A; N/A; N/A; Çağlayan, Benan Niku; Fırat, Pınar Arıkan; Seymen, Hülya; Bulutay, Pınar; Falay, Fikri Okan; Demirtaş, Elif; Demirkol, Mehmet Onur; Meriçöz, Çisel Aydın; Faculty Member; Faculty Member; Teaching Faculty; Teaching Faculty; Teaching Faculty; Master Student; Faculty Member; Teaching Faculty; School of Medicine; School of Medicine; School of Medicine; School of Medicine; School of Medicine; Graduate School of Health Sciences; School of Medicine; School of Medicine; 230719; 207545; 350778; 133565; 246484; N/A; 196946; 162418Objective: Lymph node metastasis is the most important factor both in the selection of treatment since many alternatives have been created in recent years, and in the evaluation of prognosis in lung cancer. The most unpredictable cause of lymph node false positivity in fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is anthracosis. The aim of this study is to compare 18F-FDG PET/CT texture information of anthracotic (ALN) and metastatic (MLN) lymph nodes, after re-evaluation of the cytological samples obtained from anthracotic lymph nodes by EBUS-TBNA. Subjects and Methods: Ninety nine patients, 78 of whom had primary lung cancer were included in the study. Two hundred and three lymph nodes from 99 patients sampled by EBUS-TBNA and diagnosed cytologically as ALN or MLN were evaluated retrospectively. All ALN were classified as grades 1, 2 and 3 cytologically. Volume of interest (VOI) of 203 lymph nodes was re-drawn and maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) values were recorded. Results: There was a statistically significant difference in MTV and TLG values in MLN and all ALN grades. However, only grade 1-2 ALNs could be differentiated from MLNs with SUVmax, and no statistically significant difference was found in grade 3 ALN and MLN. Metabolic tumor volume and TLG values over 4.10cm3 and 26.57 showed 60% and 59% sensitivity and 83% and 94 specificity respectively for the identification of MLN. Conclusion: The contribution of MTV and TLG values of 18F-FDG PET/CT to the differential diagnosis of ALN is much more valuable than SUVmax values, especially for grade 3 anthracosis. It was thought that cytological reporting of only grade 3 ALN could make a better contribution to the 18F-FDG PET/CT evaluation analysis.Publication Metadata only 2.3-μm Tm3+: YLF laser passively Q-switched with a Cr2+: ZnSe saturable absorber(Optical Soc Amer, 2017) N/A; N/A; Canbaz, Ferda; Yorulmaz, İsmail; Sennaroğlu, Alphan; PhD Student; PhD Student; Faculty Member; Koç University Surface Science and Technology Center (KUYTAM) / Koç Üniversitesi Yüzey Teknolojileri Araştırmaları Merkezi (KUYTAM); Graduate School of Sciences and Engineering; Graduate School of Sciences and Engineering; College of Sciences; N/A; N/A; 23851We report, what is to our knowledge, the first passively Q-switched operation of a 2.3-mu m Tm3+ : YLF laser by using a Cr2+ : ZnSe saturable absorber. In the experiments, a tunable Ti3+ : sapphire laser was used to end pump the Tm3+ : YLF gain medium inside an x cavity. A Cr2+ : ZnSe saturable absorber was also included in the cavity to initiate passive Q switching. At all pump power levels above lasing threshold, passively Q-switched operation of the Tm3+ : YLF laser could be obtained at 2309 nm with pulse durations and repetition frequencies in the ranges of 1.21.4 mu s and 0.3-2.1 kHz, respectively. Analysis of power dependent repetition rate data further gave an estimated value of 3.1% for the round-trip saturable loss of the Cr2+ : ZnSe saturable absorber.Publication Metadata only 21 fs Cr:LiSAF laser mode locked with a single-walled carbon nanotube saturable absorber(Optical Soc Amer, 2019) Bae, Ji Eun; Rotermund, Fabian; Demirbaş, Ümit; N/A; N/A; N/A; Department of Physics; Tanısalı, Gökhan; Toker, Işınsu Baylam; Taşçı, Mısra; Sennaroğlu, Alphan; PhD Student; PhD Student; Undergraduate Student; Faculty Member; Department of Physics; Koç University Surface Science and Technology Center (KUYTAM) / Koç Üniversitesi Yüzey Teknolojileri Araştırmaları Merkezi (KUYTAM); Graduate School of Sciences and Engineering; Graduate School of Sciences and Engineering; School of Medicine; College of Sciences; N/A; N/A; N/A; 23851We report the shortest femtosecond pulses directly generated from a solid-state laser that is mode locked by using a single-walled carbon nanotube saturable absorber (SWCNT-SA). In the experiments, we used a 660 nm diode-pumped, low-threshold extended-cavity Cr:LiSAF laser operating around 850 nm with a repetition rate of 47.9 MHz. The SWCNT-SA mode-locked Cr:LiSAF laser produced 21 fs pulses with a time-bandwidth product of 0.56 by using only 210 mW of pump power. Pump-probe spectroscopy measurements showed that the SWCNT-SA exhibited saturable absorption with slow and fast decay times of 2.7 ps and 0.4 ps. The single-pass modulation depth and saturation fluence of the SWCNT-SA were further determined as 0.3% and 45 mu J/cm(2) at the pump wavelength of 850 nm.Publication Open Access 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels are low but not associated with disease activity in chronic spontaneous urticaria and depression(AEPress, 2020) Vurgun, Eren; Güntaş, Gürkan; Kocatürk Göncü, Özgür Emek; Memet, Bachar; Doctor; School of Medicine; Koç University Hospital; 217219; N/AAim: to evaluate vitamin D levels in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), depression and both of them, thus to fi nd out whether vitamin D may be a common causative factor of CSU and depression. Methods: thirty patients with CSU, 30 patients with depression, 30 patients with both CSU and depression and 30 healthy volunteers as control group were involved in the study. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH) D) levels of these groups were measured and compared. Correlations between 25(OH)D levels and the activity of CSU and depression were analyzed. Results: healthy controls' 25(OH)D levels (17.2±8.8 ng/mL) were higher than patients with CSU (9.1±5.1 ng/mL), depression (8.9±6.1 ng/mL) and CSU with depression (7.7±4.7 ng/mL) (p<0.001, p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively). There were no differences in 25(OH)D levels between CSU patients with and without depression, between depression patients and CSU patients with and without depression (p=0.43, p=0.82 and p=0.92, respectively). There were no correlations between 25(OH)D levels and the activity of CSU or depression (p=0.99 and p=0.76, respectively). Conclusion: Lower 25(OH)D levels in CSU and/or depression may appear as a secondary phenomenon, which means being result of these diseases rather than the cause (Tab. 1, Fig. 2, Ref. 41).Publication Metadata only 268th ENMC workshop - Genetic diagnosis, clinical classification, outcome measures, and biomarkers in Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD): Relevance for clinical trials(Elsevier B.V., 2023) Montagnese F, de Valle K, Lemmers RJLF, Mul K, Dumonceaux J, Voermans N; 268th ENMC workshop participants.; Oflazer, Piraye; ; School of Medicine;Highlights This ENMC workshop has seen the participation of many important stakeholders working together to improve trial readiness in FSHD: patients and patients’ organizations (FSHD-Europe, FSHD-Society and FSHD Global), neuromuscular clinicians, geneticists, basic researchers, representatives of the TREAT-NMD network, the FSHD-CTRN and EMA. COMs represent useful tools for the standardized collection of clinical features but need to be selected to match the clinical setting of use. For patient care, they need to be informative, with practical and time efficient utility so as not to detract from clinical care. For clinical trial purposes, the need to be reliable, valid, meaningful and sensitive to change to better depict therapeutic responses. An optimized clinical evaluation and genetic test form is one of the goals of WG1 and 2. A diagnostic flowchart for FSHD1 and FSHD2 has been proposed. Another important unmet need for clinical trial readiness in FSHD is the identification of good therapeutic biomarkers, which ideally should be quantitative, non-invasive, applicable across the entire range of disease severity, sensitive to change, reliable and clinically meaningful. The WG 3 will produce standard operating procedures (SOPs) for DUX4 detection. Similarly, large differences in the reporting of studies performed on animal models, thus hindering interpretation, repeatability and comparison of the results need to be addressed. Guidelines regarding minimum information for publication of work including animal models for FSHD will therefore be published.Publication Open Access 3D microprinting of iron platinum nanoparticle-based magnetic mobile microrobots(Wiley, 2021) Giltinan, Joshua; Sridhar, Varun; Bozüyük, Uğur; Sheehan, Devin; Department of Mechanical Engineering; Sitti, Metin; Faculty Member; Department of Mechanical Engineering; School of Medicine; College of Engineering; 297104Wireless magnetic microrobots are envisioned to revolutionize minimally invasive medicine. While many promising medical magnetic microrobots are proposed, the ones using hard magnetic materials are not mostly biocompatible, and the ones using biocompatible soft magnetic nanoparticles are magnetically very weak and, therefore, difficult to actuate. Thus, biocompatible hard magnetic micro/nanomaterials are essential toward easy-to-actuate and clinically viable 3D medical microrobots. To fill such crucial gap, this study proposes ferromagnetic and biocompatible iron platinum (FePt) nanoparticle-based 3D microprinting of microrobots using the two-photon polymerization technique. A modified one-pot synthesis method is presented for producing FePt nanoparticles in large volumes and 3D printing of helical microswimmers made from biocompatible trimethylolpropane ethoxylate triacrylate (PETA) polymer with embedded FePt nanoparticles. The 30 mu m long helical magnetic microswimmers are able to swim at speeds of over five body lengths per second at 200Hz, making them the fastest helical swimmer in the tens of micrometer length scale at the corresponding low-magnitude actuation fields of 5-10mT. It is also experimentally in vitro verified that the synthesized FePt nanoparticles are biocompatible. Thus, such 3D-printed microrobots are biocompatible and easy to actuate toward creating clinically viable future medical microrobots.Publication Metadata only 3D printed biodegradable polyurethaneurea elastomer recapitulates skeletal muscle structure and function(American Chemical Society (ACS), 2021) Gokyer, Seyda; Berber, Emine; Vrana, Engin; Orhan, Kaan; Abou Monsef, Yanad; Guvener, Orcun; Zinnuroglu, Murat; Oto, Cagdas; Huri, Pinar Yilgor; Department of Chemistry; Department of Chemistry; Yılgör, Emel; Yılgör, İskender; Researcher; Faculty Member; Department of Chemistry; College of Sciences; College of Sciences; N/A; 24181Effective skeletal muscle tissue engineering relies on control over the scaffold architecture for providing muscle cells with the required directionality, together with a mechanical property match with the surrounding tissue. Although recent advances in 3D printing fulfill the first requirement, the available synthetic polymers either are too rigid or show unfavorable surface and degradation profiles for the latter. In addition, natural polymers that are generally used as hydrogels lack the required mechanical stability to withstand the forces exerted during muscle contraction. Therefore, one of the most important challenges in the 3D printing of soft and elastic tissues such as skeletal muscle is the limitation of the availability of elastic, durable, and biodegradable biomaterials. Herein, we have synthesized novel, biocompatible and biodegradable, elastomeric, segmented polyurethane and polyurethaneurea (TPU) copolymers which are amenable for 3D printing and show high elasticity, low modulus, controlled biodegradability, and improved wettability, compared to conventional polycaprolactone (PCL) and PCL-based TPUs. The degradation profile of the 3D printed TPU scaffold was in line with the potential tissue integration and scaffold replacement process. Even though TPU attracts macrophages in 2D configuration, its 3D printed form showed limited activated macrophage adhesion and induced muscle-like structure formation by C2C12 mouse myoblasts in vitro, while resulting in a significant increase in muscle regeneration in vivo in a tibialis anterior defect in a rat model. Effective muscle regeneration was confirmed with immunohistochemical assessment as well as evaluation of electrical activity produced by regenerated muscle by EMG analysis and its force generation via a custom-made force transducer. Micro-CT evaluation also revealed production of more muscle-like structures in the case of implantation of cell-laden 3D printed scaffolds. These results demonstrate that matching the tissue properties for a given application via use of tailor-made polymers can substantially contribute to the regenerative outcomes of 3D printed tissue engineering scaffolds.Publication Metadata only 3D printed kombucha biomaterial as a tissue scaffold and L929 cell cytotoxicity assay(Wiley, 2024) Yanbakan, Edaguel; Tuncel, Tugba; Kocak Sezgin, Ayse; Bozoglan, Emirhan; Berikten, Derya; Kar, Fatih; Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics; Bağlan, İlkyaz; Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics; College of SciencesTissue engineering includes the construction of tissue-organ scaffold. The advantage of three-dimensional scaffolds over two-dimensional scaffolds is that they provide homeostasis for a longer time. The microbial community in Symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY) can be a source for kombucha (kombu tea) production. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the usage of SCOBY, which produces bacterial cellulose, as a biomaterial and 3D scaffold material. 3D printable biomaterial was obtained by partial hydrolysis of oolong tea and black tea kombucha biofilms. In order to investigate the usage of 3D kombucha biomaterial as a tissue scaffold, "L929 cell line 3D cell culture" was created and cell viability was tested in the biomaterial. At the end of the 21st day, black tea showed 51% and oolong tea 73% viability. The cytotoxicity of the materials prepared by lyophilizing oolong and black tea kombucha beverages in fibroblast cell culture was determined. Black tea IC50 value: 7.53 mg, oolong tea IC50 value is found as 6.05 mg. Fibroblast viability in 3D biomaterial + lyophilized oolong and black tea kombucha beverages, which were created using the amounts determined to these values, were investigated by cell culture Fibroblasts in lyophilized and 3D biomaterial showed viability of 58% in black tea and 78% in oolong tea at the end of the 7th day. In SEM analysis, it was concluded that fibroblast cells created adhesion to the biomaterial. 3D biomaterial from kombucha mushroom culture can be used as tissue scaffold and biomaterial.Publication Open Access 3D printed microneedles for point of care biosensing applications(Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), 2022) Department of Mechanical Engineering; Sarabi, Misagh Rezapour; Nakhjavani, Sattar Akbar; Taşoğlu, Savaş; Faculty Member; Department of Mechanical Engineering; Koç University Research Center for Translational Medicine (KUTTAM) / Koç Üniversitesi Translasyonel Tıp Araştırma Merkezi (KUTTAM); KU Arçelik Research Center for Creative Industries (KUAR) / KU Arçelik Yaratıcı Endüstriler Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi (KUAR); Koç Üniversitesi İş Bankası Yapay Zeka Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi (KUIS AI)/ Koç University İş Bank Artificial Intelligence Center (KUIS AI); Graduate School of Sciences and Engineering; College of Engineering; N/A; N/A; 291971Microneedles (MNs) are an emerging technology for user-friendly and minimally invasive injection, offering less pain and lower tissue damage in comparison to conventional needles. With their ability to extract body fluids, MNs are among the convenient candidates for developing biosensing setups, where target molecules/biomarkers are detected by the biosensor using the sample collected with the MNs. Herein, we discuss the 3D printing of microneedle arrays (MNAs) toward enabling point-of-care (POC) biosensing applications.Publication Open Access 3D printed personalized magnetic micromachines from patient blood-derived biomaterials(American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2021) Ceylan, Hakan; Doğan, Nihal Olcay; Yaşa, İmmihan Ceren; Department of Mechanical Engineering; Sitti, Metin; Musaoğlu, Miraç Nur; Kulalı, Zeynep Umut; Faculty Member; Department of Mechanical Engineering; College of Engineering; School of Medicine; 297104; N/A; N/AWhile recent wireless micromachines have shown increasing potential for medical use, their potential safety risks concerning biocompatibility need to be mitigated. They are typically constructed from materials that are not intrinsically compatible with physiological environments. Here, we propose a personalized approach by using patient blood-derivable biomaterials as the main construction fabric of wireless medical micromachines to alleviate safety risks from biocompatibility. We demonstrate 3D printed multiresponsive microswimmers and microrollers made from magnetic nanocomposites of blood plasma, serum albumin protein, and platelet lysate. These micro-machines respond to time-variant magnetic fields for torque-driven steerable motion and exhibit multiple cycles of pH-responsive two-way shape memory behavior for controlled cargo delivery and release applications. Their proteinaceous fabrics enable enzymatic degradability with proteinases, thereby lowering risks of long-term toxicity. The personalized micromachine fabrication strategy we conceptualize here can affect various future medical robots and devices made of autologous biomaterials to improve biocompatibility and smart functionality.Publication Metadata only 3D printed poly(lactic acid) scaffolds modified with chitosan and hydroxyapatite for bone repair applications(Elsevier, 2020) N/A; N/A; N/A; N/A; Department of Chemistry; Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Department of Chemistry; Nazeer, Muhammad Anwaar; Önder, Özgün Can; Sevgili, İlkem; Yılgör, Emel; Kavaklı, İbrahim Halil; Yılgör, İskender; PhD Student; PhD Student; PhD Student; Researcher; Faculty Member; Faculty Member; Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Department of Chemistry; Koç University Surface Science and Technology Center (KUYTAM) / Koç Üniversitesi Yüzey Teknolojileri Araştırmaları Merkezi (KUYTAM); Graduate School of Sciences and Engineering; Graduate School of Sciences and Engineering; Graduate School of Sciences and Engineering; College of Sciences; College of Engineering; College of Sciences; N/A; N/A; N/A; N/A; 40319; 241813D printed poly(lactic acid) (PLA) scaffolds surface modified with chitosan (CS) and hydroxyapatite (HA) to produce a novel bioactive composite scaffold is reported. Excellent mechanical properties of PLA, the bioactivity of CS, and osteogenic characteristics of HA are combined to fabricate composite scaffolds using a simple desktop 3D printer. Scaffolds were characterized through attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and water contact angle measurements before and after modification. Formic acid was used as a solvent to prepare stable CS/HA dispersions and was found to be a suitable solvent for producing PLA/CS/HA composites. Surface properties of modified scaffolds were superior in terms of hydrophilicity and bioactivity, which resulted in enhanced attachment and proliferation of human osteosarcoma cells in vitro compared to the unmodified PLA scaffolds.Publication Metadata only 3D printed styrax liquidus (liquidambar orientalis miller)-loaded poly (l-lactic acid)/chitosan based wound dressing material: fabrication, characterization, and biocompatibility results(Elsevier, 2023) Cakmak, Hanife Yuksel; Ege, Hasan; Yilmaz, Senanur; Agturk, Gokhan; Enguven, Gozde; Sarmis, Abdurrahman; Cakmak, Zeren; Gunduz, Oguzhan; Ege, Zeynep Ruya; Yöntem, Fulya Dal; Koç University Research Center for Translational Medicine (KUTTAM) / Koç Üniversitesi Translasyonel Tıp Araştırma Merkezi (KUTTAM); School of MedicineThe medicinal plant of Styrax liquidus (ST) (sweet gum balsam) which extracted from Liquidambar orientalis Mill tree, was loaded into the 3D printed polylactic acid (PLA)/chitosan (CS) based 3D printed scaffolds to investigate its wound healing and closure effect, in this study. The morphological and chemical properties of the ST loaded 3D printed scaffolds with different concentrations (1 %, 2 %, and 3 % wt) were investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), respectively. In addition, the me-chanical and thermal properties of the materials were investigated by Tensile test and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), respectively. The antimicrobial activities of the ST loaded 3D printed scaffolds and their incubation media in the PBS (pH 7.4, at 37 degrees C for 24 h) were investigated on two Gram-positive and two Gram -negative standard pathogenic bacteria with the agar disc diffusion method. The colorimetric MTT assay was used to determine the cell viability of human fibroblast cells (CCD-1072Sk) incubated with free ST, ST loaded, and unloaded 3D printed scaffolds. The 1 % and 2 % (wt) ST loaded PLA/CS/ST 3D printed scaffolds showed an increase in the cell number. Annexin V/PI double stain assay was performed to test whether early or late apoptosis was induced in the PLA/CS/1 % ST and PLA/CS/2 % ST loaded groups and the results were consistent with the MTT assay. Furthermore, a wound healing assay was carried out to investigate the effect of ST loaded 3D printed scaffolds on wound healing in CCD-1072Sk cells. The highest wound closure compared to the control group was observed on cells treated with PLA/CS/1 % ST for 72 h. According to the results, novel biocompatible ST loaded 3D printed scaffolds with antimicrobial effect can be used as wound healing material for potential tissue engineering applications.Publication Metadata only 3D printing of cytocompatible gelatin-cellulose-alginate blend hydrogels(Wiley-V C H Verlag Gmbh, 2020) Erkoc, Pelin; Uvak, Ileyna; Odeh, Yazan Nitham; Akdogan, Ozan; Odeh, Yazan Nitham; Akdogan, Ozan; N/A; Department of Chemistry; Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Nazeer, Muhammad Anwaar; Batool, Syeda Rubab; Kızılel, Seda; PhD Student; Researcher; Faculty Member; Department of Chemistry; Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Graduate School of Sciences and Engineering; College of Sciences; College of Engineering; N/A; N/A; 283763D bioprinting of hydrogels has gained great attention due to its potential to manufacture intricate and customized scaffolds that provide favored conditions for cell proliferation. Nevertheless, plain natural hydrogels can be easily disintegrated, and their mechanical strengths are usually insufficient for printing process. Hence, composite hydrogels are developed for 3D printing. This study aims to develop a hydrogel ink for extrusion-based 3D printing which is entirely composed of natural polymers, gelatin, alginate, and cellulose. Physicochemical interactions between the components of the intertwined gelatin-cellulose-alginate network are studied via altering copolymer ratios. The structure of the materials and porosity are assessed using infrared spectroscopy, swelling, and degradation experiments. The utility of this approach is examined with two different crosslinking strategies using glutaraldehyde or CaCl2. Multilayer cylindrical structures are successfully 3D printed, and their porous structure is confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area analyses. Moreover, cytocompatibility of the hydrogel scaffolds is confirmed on fibroblast cells. The developed material is completely natural, biocompatible, economical, and the method is facile. Thus, this study is important for the development of advanced functional 3D hydrogels that have considerable potential for biomedical devices and artificial tissues.Publication Open Access 3D printing of elastomeric bioinspired complex adhesive microstructures(Wiley, 2021) Dayan, Cem Balda; Chun, Sungwoo; Krishna Subbaiah, Nagaraj; Drotlef, Dirk Michael; Akolpoğlu, Mükrime Birgül; Department of Mechanical Engineering; Sitti, Metin; Faculty Member; Department of Mechanical Engineering; College of Engineering; School of Medicine; 297104Bioinspired elastomeric structural adhesives can provide reversible and controllable adhesion on dry/wet and synthetic/biological surfaces for a broad range of commercial applications. Shape complexity and performance of the existing structural adhesives are limited by the used specific fabrication technique, such as molding. To overcome these limitations by proposing complex 3D microstructured adhesive designs, a 3D elastomeric microstructure fabrication approach is implemented using two-photon-polymerization-based 3D printing. A custom aliphatic urethane-acrylate-based elastomer is used as the 3D printing material. Two designs are demonstrated with two combined biological inspirations to show the advanced capabilities enabled by the proposed fabrication approach and custom elastomer. The first design focuses on springtail- and gecko-inspired hybrid microfiber adhesive, which has the multifunctionalities of side-surface liquid super-repellency, top-surface liquid super-repellency, and strong reversible adhesion features in a single fiber array. The second design primarily centers on octopus- and gecko-inspired hybrid adhesive, which exhibits the benefits of both octopus- and gecko-inspired microstructured adhesives for strong reversible adhesion on both wet and dry surfaces, such as skin. This fabrication approach could be used to produce many other 3D complex elastomeric structural adhesives for future real-world applications.Publication Open Access 3D spatial organization and network-guided comparison of mutation profiles in Glioblastoma reveals similarities across patients(Public Library of Science, 2019) Dinçer, Cansu; Kaya, Tuğba; Tunçbağ, Nurcan; Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Department of Computer Engineering; Keskin, Özlem; Gürsoy, Attila; Faculty Member; Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Department of Computer Engineering; Koç University Research Center for Translational Medicine (KUTTAM) / Koç Üniversitesi Translasyonel Tıp Araştırma Merkezi (KUTTAM); College of Engineering; 26605; 8745Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive type of brain tumor. Molecular heterogeneity is a hallmark of GBM tumors that is a barrier in developing treatment strategies. In this study, we used the nonsynonymous mutations of GBM tumors deposited in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and applied a systems level approach based on biophysical characteristics of mutations and their organization in patient-specific subnetworks to reduce inter-patient heterogeneity and to gain potential clinically relevant insights. Approximately 10% of the mutations are located in "patches" which are defined as the set of residues spatially in close proximity that are mutated across multiple patients. Grouping mutations as 3D patches reduces the heterogeneity across patients. There are multiple patches that are relatively small in oncogenes, whereas there are a small number of very large patches in tumor suppressors. Additionally, different patches in the same protein are often located at different domains that can mediate different functions. We stratified the patients into five groups based on their potentially affected pathways, revealed from the patient-specific subnetworks. These subnetworks were constructed by integrating mutation profiles of the patients with the interactome data. Network-guided clustering showed significant association between each group and patient survival (P-value = 0.0408). Also, each group carries a set of signature 3D mutation patches that affect predominant pathways. We integrated drug sensitivity data of GBM cell lines with the mutation patches and the patient groups to analyze the therapeutic outcome of these patches. We found that Pazopanib might be effective in Group 3 by targeting CSF1R. Additionally, inhibiting ATM that is a mediator of PTEN phosphorylation may be ineffective in Group 2. We believe that from mutations to networks and eventually to clinical and therapeutic data, this study provides a novel perspective in the network-guided precision medicine.Publication Metadata only 3D-printed micrometer-scale wireless magnetic cilia with metachronal programmability(American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2023) Zhang, Shuaizhong; Hu, Xinghao; Li, Meng; Bozüyük, Uğur; Zhang, Rongjing; Suadiye, Eylül; Han, Jie; Wang, Fan; Onck, Patrick; Department of Mechanical Engineering; Sitti, Metin; Faculty Member; Department of Mechanical Engineering; College of Engineering; 297104Biological cilia play essential roles in self-propulsion, food capture, and cell transportation by performing coordinated metachronal motions. Experimental studies to emulate the biological cilia metachronal coordination are challenging at the micrometer length scale because of current limitations in fabrication methods and materials. We report on the creation of wirelessly actuated magnetic artificial cilia with biocompatibility and metachronal programmability at the micrometer length scale. Each cilium is fabricated by direct laser printing a silk fibroin hydrogel beam affixed to a hard magnetic FePt Janus microparticle. The 3D-printed cilia show stable actuation performance, high temperature resistance, and high mechanical endurance. Programmable metachronal coordination can be achieved by programming the orientation of the identically magnetized FePt Janus microparticles, which enables the generation of versatile microfluidic patterns. Our platform offers an unprecedented solution to create bioinspired microcilia for programmable microfluidic systems, biomedical engineering, and biocompatible implants.Publication Metadata only 3D-printed micrometer-scale wireless magnetic cilia with metachronal programmability(Amer Assoc Advancement Science, 2023) Zhang, Shuaizhong; Hu, Xinghao; Li, Meng; Bozuyuk, Ugur; Zhang, Rongjing; Suadiye, Eylul; Han, Jie; Wang, Fan; Onck, Patrick; Department of Mechanical Engineering; Sitti, Metin; Department of Mechanical Engineering; College of Engineering; School of MedicineBiological cilia play essential roles in self-propulsion, food capture, and cell transportation by performing coor-dinated metachronal motions. Experimental studies to emulate the biological cilia metachronal coordination are challenging at the micrometer length scale because of current limitations in fabrication methods and ma-terials. We report on the creation of wirelessly actuated magnetic artificial cilia with biocompatibility and meta-chronal programmability at the micrometer length scale. Each cilium is fabricated by direct laser printing a silk fibroin hydrogel beam affixed to a hard magnetic FePt Janus microparticle. The 3D-printed cilia show stable actuation performance, high temperature resistance, and high mechanical endurance. Programmable meta-chronal coordination can be achieved by programming the orientation of the identically magnetized FePt Janus microparticles, which enables the generation of versatile microfluidic patterns. Our platform offers an unprecedented solution to create bioinspired microcilia for programmable microfluidic systems, biomedical en-gineering, and biocompatible implants.Publication Open Access 3D-printed microneedles in biomedical applications(Elsevier, 2021) Rahbarghazi, Reza; Yetişen, Ali Kemal; N/A; Department of Mechanical Engineering; Dabbagh, Sajjad Rahmani; Sarabi, Misagh Rezapour; Sokullu, Emel; Taşoğlu, Savaş; Faculty Member; Faculty Member; Department of Mechanical Engineering; KU Arçelik Research Center for Creative Industries (KUAR) / KU Arçelik Yaratıcı Endüstriler Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi (KUAR); Koç University Research Center for Translational Medicine (KUTTAM) / Koç Üniversitesi Translasyonel Tıp Araştırma Merkezi (KUTTAM); Graduate School of Social Sciences and Humanities; Graduate School of Sciences and Engineering; School of Medicine; College of Engineering; N/A; N/A; 163024; 291971Conventional needle technologies can be advanced with emerging nano- and micro-fabrication methods to fabricate microneedles. Nano-/micro-fabricated microneedles seek to mitigate penetration pain and tissue damage, as well as providing accurately controlled robust channels for administrating bioagents and collecting body fluids. Here, design and 3D printing strategies of microneedles are discussed with emerging applications in biomedical devices and healthcare technologies. 3D printing offers customization, cost-efficiency, a rapid turnaround time between design iterations, and enhanced accessibility. Increasing the printing resolution, the accuracy of the features, and the accessibility of low-cost raw printing materials have empowered 3D printing to be utilized for the fabrication of microneedle platforms. The development of 3D-printed microneedles has enabled the evolution of pain-free controlled release drug delivery systems, devices for extracting fluids from the cutaneous tissue, biosignal acquisition, and point-of-care diagnostic devices in personalized medicine.