# An Engineered Surface of Mucociliary Transport for Medical Devices

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF IOWA · 2024 · $334,373

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Mucus contacted medical devices, such as airway devices and eye prostheses, suffer from mucus
accumulation. Plugged mucus causes bacterial infection, airway blockage, and a requirement of frequent
device cleaning and replacement, which adds significant care burdens for the patient and support community.
Current approaches to mitigate mucus accumulation involve strong mechanical forces or medications, thus
having intrinsic limitations and side effects. Mucociliary transport (MCT), a process by which waves of beating
cilia move a blanket of mucus, forms the first-line barrier against infection in respiratory and genital tracts.
Inspired by the effectiveness of MCT in clearing mucus, the objective of this project is to develop an
engineered surface that enables MCT function (i.e., an engineered surface of MCT). Our objective will be
achieved through a combination of cilia fabrication, surface modification, and acoustic actuation with the
following aims: fabricate engineered surfaces with polarized ciliary structures (Aim 1); understand mucus
stickiness on engineered surface of MCT. (Aim 2); develop platforms to test acoustic actuated MCT on
engineered surfaces in vitro and in vivo (Aim 3). The proposed research is rationally built on experimental
feasibility, investigator expertise, and a supportive research environment. The feasibility is supported by
experimental successes in polymer ciliary surfaces, slug and pig models of mucus, and vibration of
microstructures with acoustic waves. The team of investigators have expertise in MCT, microfluidics, acoustics,
3D printing, and animal models. The proposed research will be conducted within the environment of the world-
renowned Lung Physiology Research Center and Roy J. Carver Department of Biomedical Engineering at the
University of Iowa, with broad availability of complementary expertise in biology and engineering. The expected
outcomes of this project include revealing the mechanism of MCT on engineered surfaces and delivering an
innovative medical device product incorporating an engineered surface of MCT.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10811739
- **Project number:** 5R01EB033395-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
- **Principal Investigator:** Yuliang Xie
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $334,373
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-04-01 → 2027-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10811739

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10811739, An Engineered Surface of Mucociliary Transport for Medical Devices (5R01EB033395-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-07-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10811739. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*