EFRI C3 SoRo: Magneto-electroactive Soft, Continuum, Compliant, Configurable (MESo-C3) Robots for Medical Applications Across Scales

犹他大学、明尼苏达大学和圣克拉拉大学之间的这个合作项目的愿景是，通过使用一种新型的3D打印磁电活性柔软、连续、柔顺、以及可配置的（MESo-C3）中尺度机器人设备，这些设备将沿着人体的自然路径行驶，用于广泛的诊断和治疗应用。这包括一种新型的系绳和非系绳软内窥镜、导管和直径为0.1-10mm的微型机器人，这将解决当前临床和台式设备的局限性。MESo-C3将从根本上改变目前涉及推、拉或拧通过人体腔的医疗设备，使其主动摆动并辅助自身推进和机动。在这个项目中创造的知识和技术有可能对全球的医疗保健产生重大影响。胃肠道癌症是最常见和最致命的癌症之一，早期发现可以显著提高生存率，但可悲的是，我们的人口仍然没有得到充分的筛查。MESo-C3可以使胃肠道筛查更安全，更便宜，更有效，对患者更少威胁。由于大脑的脆弱和复杂的结构，许多大脑疾病很难或不可能治疗。MESo-C3可以安全地进入目前无法到达的大脑区域，这可能从根本上改变我们的治疗和对我们最重要器官的理解。此外，增材制造领域产生的知识将远远超出MESo-C3的影响。该项目还为本科生提供研究机会，向大量高中生作报告，支持向代表性不足的太平洋岛民社区开展新的夏令营活动，并有工业界和医学专家参与。MESo-C3是三种互补技术的独特协同集成：具有无线高带宽磁推进的柔性圆柱形结构；低带宽大变形电活性聚合物（EAP）执行器；以及采用多尺度增材制造技术的超灵敏软超电容应变、力和弹性模量传感器。目标是了解3d打印MESo-C3机器人的运动学，动力学，传感和控制，其简单性使其能够跨尺度应用。该项目包括四个综合研究目标的共同开发：(1)磁性推进，与之前在管道中爬行的机制相比，在制造和控制方面都很简单，很容易被纳入小型功能性胶囊和导管形状的医疗设备中。将设计各种具有不同保真度和计算成本水平的建模工具，以阐明推进动力学，并支持MESo-C3机器人在项目不同阶段的设计和优化。(2)基于eap的形态控制创新方法，实现MESo-C3机器人的智能重构、操纵和转向。(3)设计用于体液环境的超级电容传感器，能够测量机器人的剪切力和法向力、关键位置的应变以及抓取物体的弹性模量。(4)通过对软物质物理和材料开发的基础研究，推进多尺度、多材料3D打印，实现中尺度混合设备的创建，与目标1至目标3中的关键技术的开发无缝集成。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The vision of this collaborative project between the University of Utah, the University of Minnesota, and Santa Clara University is to extend the capabilities of clinicians by enabling minimally invasive access to locations in the human body that are currently difficult or impossible to reach, using a new class of 3D printed magneto-electroactive soft, continuum, compliant, and configurable (MESo-C3) mesoscale robotic devices that will travel along the natural pathways of the human body for a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic applications. This includes a new breed of tethered and untethered soft endoscopes, catheters, and minirobots with diameters of ∼0.1-10mm that will address limitations of current clinical and benchtop devices. MESo-C3 will fundamentally change medical devices that currently involve pushing, pulling, or screwing through the lumens of the human body to devices that actively wiggle and assist in their own propulsion and maneuvering. The knowledge and technology created in this project have the potential to significantly impact healthcare across the globe. Cancers of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract are some of the most common and most deadly, and the likelihood of survival is significantly increased with early detection, yet our population is still woefully underscreened. MESo-C3 could make GI-tract screening safer, less expensive, more effective, and less intimidating to patients. Many disorders of the brain are difficult or impossible to treat due to the brain's fragility and complex structure. MESo-C3 could enable safe access to currently unreachable areas of the brain, which could fundamentally change our treatment and understanding of what is arguably our most important organ. In addition, the knowledge generated in the area of additive manufacturing will have impact far beyond MESo-C3. The project also provides research opportunities for undergraduate students, involves presentations to large numbers of high-school students, supports a new summer-camp outreach activity to the underrepresented Pacific Islander community, and involves industry and medical experts.MESo-C3 is a unique synergistic integration of three complementary technologies: compliant cylindrical structures with wireless high-bandwidth magnetic propulsion; low-bandwidth large-deformation electroactive polymer (EAP) actuators; and ultra-sensitive soft supercapacitance-based strain, force, and moduli-of-elasticity sensors via multi-scale additive manufacturing technology. The goal is to understand the kinematics, dynamics, sensing, and control of 3D-printed MESo-C3 robots, with a simplicity that enables application across scales. This project comprises of the co-development of four integrated research aims: (1) Magnetic propulsion that is simple in terms of fabrication and control compared to previous mechanisms for crawling in tubes, which easily lends itself to being incorporated into small, functional capsule- and catheter-shaped medical devices. A variety of modeling tools with varying levels of fidelity and computational costs will be devised to elucidate the propulsion dynamics and support the design and optimization of the MESo-C3 robots at different stages of the project. (2) Innovative approaches for EAP-based morphology control to enable intelligent reconfiguration, manipulation, and steering of MESo-C3 robots. (3) Supercapacitive sensors designed for use in body-fluid environments, and capable of measuring shear and normal forces on the robot, strains at critical locations, and elasticity moduli of grasped objects. (4) The advancement of multiscale, multimaterial 3D printing via fundamental studies of soft-matter physics and materials development to enable the creation of mesoscale hybrid devices, which seamlessly integrates with the development of the key technologies in aims 1 through 3.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.