The widely used rigid gas permeable (RGP) contact lenses provide higher oxygen permeability and tear exchange rate than do soft contact lenses. However, their wettability warrants improvement to enhance the wearing comfort. This study used UV laser (wavelength = 355 nm) to modify the surface properties of RGP contact lenses with materials of Boston XO^® (Bausch & Lomb Incorporated). Briefly, the mesh pattern was fabricated on the RGP contact lens surface by using the laser and smoothed by using oxygen plasma; the enhanced hydrophilic efficiency was analyzed using contact angle measurement. The experiment results indicated that the contact angle of the lens material decreased by approximately 10°–20° when the pitch of mesh pattern was <50 μm under a 500-mm/s scanning speed. The oxygen plasma enhanced surface wettability with a decreased contact angle (40°). The hydrophilic characteristic of the UV laser and oxygen plasma–treated surface was twice that of oxygen plasma–treated and untreated surfaces. In the future, RGP contact lens edges could be treated with UV laser and oxygen plasma to enhance the tear wettability and wearing comfort.

The concept of chronic kidney disease (CKD) originated in the 2000s, and an estimated 850 million patients are currently suffering from health threats from different degrees of CKD. However, it is unclear whether the existing CKD care systems are optimal for improving patient prognosis and outcomes, so this review summarizes the burden, existing care models, effectiveness, challenges, and developments of CKD care. Even under the general care principles, there are still significant gaps in our understanding of the causes of CKD, prevention or care resources, and care burdens between countries worldwide. Receiving care from multidisciplinary teams rather than only a nephrologist shows potential profits in comprehensive and preferable outcomes. In addition, we propose a novel CKD care structure that combines modern technologies, biosensors, longitudinal data visualization, machine learning algorithms, and mobile care. The novel care structure could simultaneously change the care process, significantly reduce human contact, and make the vulnerable population less likely to be exposed to infectious diseases such as COVID-19. The information offered should be beneficial, allowing us to rethink future CKD care models and applications to reach the goals of health equality and sustainability.

Indium tin oxide (ITO) is widely used as a substrate for fabricating chips because of its optical transparency, favorable chemical stability, and high electrical conductivity. However, the wettability of ITO surface is neutral (the contact angle was approximately 90°) or hydrophilic. For reagent transporting and manipulation in biochip application, the surface wettability of ITO-based chips was modified to the hydrophobic or nearly hydrophobic surface to enable their use with droplets. Due to the above demand, this study used a 355-nm ultraviolet laser to fabricate a comb microstructure on ITO glass to modify the surface wettability characteristics. All of the fabrication patterns with various line width and pitch, depth, and surface roughness were employed. Subsequently, the contact angle (CA) of droplets on the ITO glass was analyzed to examine wettability and electrical performance by using the different voltages applied to the electrode. The proposed approach can succeed in the fabrication of a biochip with suitable comb-microstructure by using the optimal operating voltage and time functions for the catch droplets on ITO glass for precision medicine application. The experiment results indicated that the CA of droplets under a volume of 20 μL on flat ITO substrate was approximately 92° ± 2°; furthermore, due to its lowest surface roughness, the pattern line width and pitch of 110 μm exhibited a smaller CA variation and more favorable spherical droplet morphology, with a side and front view CA of 83° ± 1° and 78.5° ± 2.5°, respectively, while a laser scanning speed of 750 mm/s was employed. Other line width and pitch, as well as scanning speed parameters, increased the surface roughness and resulted in the surface becoming hydrophilic. In addition, to prevent droplet morphology collapse, the droplet’s electric operation voltage and driving time did not exceed 5 V and 20 s, respectively. With this method, the surface modification process can be employed to control the droplet’s CA by adjusting the line width and pitch and the laser scanning speed, especially in the neutral or nearly hydrophobic surface for droplet transporting. This enables the production of a microfluidic chip with a surface that is both light transmittance and has favorable electrical conductivity. In addition, the shape of the microfluidic chip can be directly designed and fabricated using a laser direct writing system on ITO glass, obviating the use of a mask and complicated production processes in biosensing and biomanipulation applications.

Silicon carbide (SiC) has significant potential as a third-generation semiconductor material due to its exceptional thermal and electronic properties, yet its high hardness and brittleness make processing costly and complex. This study introduces ultraviolet laser ablation as a method for direct SiC material removal, investigating the effects of varying scanning speeds on surface composition, hardness, and ablation depth. The results indicate optimal processing speeds for the Si and C faces at 200 mm/s and 100 mm/s, respectively. Ablation depth is linearly correlated with laser repetitions, achieving a 25% improvement in removal efficiency at 100 mm/s on the C face compared to higher speeds. A composition analysis shows that the Si and C faces of SiC exhibit consistent ratios of Si, O, and C both before and after ablation. Post-ablation, the proportion of Si and C decreases with an increased presence of oxygen. At scanning speeds below 200 mm/s, the variation in speed has minimal effect on the compositional ratios, indicating a stable elemental distribution across the surface despite differences in processing speed. Hardness testing indicates an initial hardness of 13,896 MPa for the C face, higher than that of the Si face, with both surfaces experiencing a drop to less than 1% of their original hardness (below 50 MPa) after ablation. Lattice structure analysis shows Moissanite-5H SiC and cubic silicon formation on the Si face, while the C face retains partial SiC structure. This study found that when laser parameters are used to process SiC, the processing parameters required on both sides are different and provide important reference information for future industrial processing applications to shorten the time and process cost of SiC surface thinning.

Viruses and bacteria, which can rapidly spread through droplets and saliva, can have serious effects on people’s health. Viral activity is traditionally inhibited using chemical substances, such as alcohol or bleach, or physical methods, such as thermal energy or ultraviolet-light irradiation. However, such methods cannot be used in many applications because they have certain disadvantages, such as causing eye or skin injuries. Therefore, in the present study, the electrical stimulation method is used to stimulate a virus, namely, coronavirus 229E, and two types of bacteria, namely, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, to efficiently reduce their infectivity of healthy cells (such as the Vero E6 cell in a viral activity-inhibition experiment). The infectivity effects of the aforementioned virus and bacteria were examined under varying values of different electrical stimulation parameters, such as the stimulation current, frequency, and total stimulation time. The experimental results indicate that the activity of coronavirus 229E is considerably inhibited through direct-current pulse stimulation with a current of 25 mA and a frequency of 2 or 20 Hz. In addition, E. coli activity was reduced by nearly 80% in 10 s through alternating-current pulse stimulation with a current of 50 mA and a frequency of 25 Hz. Moreover, a self-powered electrical stimulation device was constructed in this study. This device consists of a solar panel and battery to generate small currents with variable frequencies, which has advantages of self-powered and variable frequencies, and the device can be utilized on desks, chairs, or elevator buttons for the inhibition of viral and bacterial activities.