Mechanosensitive polymer matrices of biologically-relevant compliance based on upconverting nanoparticles

TL;DR

This paper develops and calibrates polymer-based upconverting nanoparticle composites as optical force sensors suitable for diverse biological tissues, demonstrating their ability to measure forces in situ with high sensitivity.

Contribution

It introduces new polymer UCNP composites with tunable stiffness and optimized core-shell architectures, expanding their applicability for biomechanical force sensing.

Findings

Epoxy resin composites showed the highest force sensitivity.

The sensors could measure forces in a chicken wing bone joint.

Optical force sensing was successfully demonstrated in biological tissue.

Abstract

Upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) are promising optical biomechanical force sensors due to their near infrared excitation, low toxicity, photostability, and linear colorimetric sensitivity to micronewtons of force. Recently, a composite force sensor based on UCNPs embedded in a polystyrene microbead enabled the first real time measurement of feeding forces in living nematodes. However, the comparatively large stiffness of polystyrene only makes it relevant to biomedical application in a small subset of biological tissue. To facilitate deployment of UCNPs into biological tissues with a range of mechanical properties, we expand upon polymer UCNP composite systems by embedding UCNPs in three polymer matrices with varying stiffnesses (epoxy resin, polydimethylsiloxane, and alginate hydrogels). Furthermore, to enhance these composites mechanosensitivity, we methodically investigate using two different core-shell architectures of SrLuF based UCNPs doped with ytterbium, erbium, and varying manganese concentrations. We calibrate polymer UCNP composite optical force sensitivity with colocalized atomic force and confocal microscopy. Using the red to green emission ratio (Delta Percent IRed:IGreen) as the force read-out, we determine that SrLuF:Yb0.28Er0.025Mn0.013 with SrYF inert shell dispersed in epoxy resin exhibits the greatest emission color change (12 Delta Percent IRed:IGreen per microNewton). Finally, we map forces in the epoxy UCNP composite on the macroscale between the joint of a chicken wing bone using a commercially available wide field microscope, thereby demonstrating its ability to optically measure pressures in situ. This work establishes the utility and modularity of the UCNP polymer composite system for force sensing in geometrically and mechanically diverse biological systems.