Hydrogels have gained great attention and broad applications in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and drug delivery due to their excellent biocompatibility and degradability. However, accurately and noninvasively characterizing the degradation process of hydrogels remains a challenge. To address this, we have developed a method using soft spring gauges (SSGs) for the in situ weighing of hydrogels. Our approach uses a simple hydrogel-based sacrificial template method to fabricate polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) SSGs. The SSGs used in this study can characterize hydrogels with a minimum wet weight of approximately 30 mg. Through theoretical derivations, numerical simulations, and experimental characterization, we confirmed that the length change of the SSGs in a buffer solution correlates linearly with the applied hanging weights. This allows us to track and assess the solid mass change of hydrogels during degradation with high feasibility and accuracy. Additionally, we have demonstrated the potential application of SSGs for the in situ characterization of engineered tissue growth. This method represents an advanced approach for in situ hydrogel weighing, holding great promise for advancing the development of hydrogels and other biomaterials in biomedical applications.

中文翻译：

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用于原位生物材料和组织称重的工程软弹簧计

水凝胶以其优异的生物相容性和可降解性在组织工程、再生医学和药物输送等领域受到广泛关注和广泛应用。然而，准确且非侵入性地表征水凝胶的降解过程仍然是一个挑战。为了解决这个问题，我们开发了一种使用软弹簧计（SSG）对水凝胶进行原位称重的方法。我们的方法使用简单的基于水凝胶的牺牲模板方法来制造聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDMS）SSG。本研究中使用的 SSG 可以表征最小湿重约为 30 mg 的水凝胶。通过理论推导、数值模拟和实验表征，我们证实缓冲溶液中 SSG 的长度变化与所施加的悬挂重量线性相关。这使我们能够以高可行性和准确性跟踪和评估水凝胶在降解过程中的固体质量变化。此外，我们还证明了 SSG 在工程组织生长的原位表征方面的潜在应用。该方法代表了一种原位水凝胶称重的先进方法，为推进水凝胶和其他生物材料在生物医学应用中的发展带来了巨大的希望。