Conveners
S14 Biohybrid robotics
- Minghao Nie (University of Tokyo)
- Maurizio Gullo (University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW))
Living robots represent a new frontier in engineering materials for robotic systems, incorporating biological living cells and synthetic materials into their design. These bio-hybrid robots are dynamic and intelligent, potentially harnessing living matter’s capabilities, such as growth, regeneration, morphing, biodegradation, and environmental adaptation. Such attributes position bio-hybrid...
Biohybrid robotics integrates living biological components with synthetic systems to create machines that sense, actuate, and adapt in biologically meaningful ways. In this talk, I will present a set of diverse yet complementary projects from our lab that demonstrate a multi-scale and cross-species approach to biohybrid system design. These include robots powered by engineered muscle rings,...
Introduction: Melt electrowriting (MEW) has gained considerable popularity in the field of biofabrication due to the unique capabilities it offers to fabricate biologically relevant architectures. Most MEW-generated scaffolds have fiber sizes within the range of 5-50 microns and inter-fiber distances as low as 100 microns. However, that is just close to the maximum pore size where cells...
Engineered tissues have the potential to serve as sensing, actuation, and mechanical support elements for soft machines that possess biomimetic functionality. Conventional biohybrid constructs involve the use of synthetic structures made from hydrogels or elastomers as support elements because free-standing contractile tissues do not have a stable form. In this talk, I am going to explain how...
Soft robots offer unique advantages in biomedical applications due to their adaptability and biocompatibility. However, scalable, contactless fabrication methods are underdeveloped. We present a novel approach using sound-induced hydrodynamic instabilities to assemble magnetic soft robots within a gelatin matrix. These robots, actuated by a magnetic field, undergo complex shape...
Developing robots covered with living skin tissue can significantly enhance their huamn-like apperance, barrier function, and regenerative capacity. However, maintaining viable skin tissues in air-exposed environments requires a robust internal nutrient supply system. In this study, we propose a method for constructing perfusable skin-covered robotic structures by integrating microchannels...
Bioengineered cardiac tissue substitutes present immense potential for advancing regenerative therapies for ischemic heart diseases, the leading cause of hospitalization and mortality worldwide. Despite significant research efforts, existing biomaterials and scaffold fabrication approaches continue to face critical challenges, particularly inadequate electrophysiological integration resulting...
