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

犹他州大学，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类新的3D打印磁电活性软，连续，顺应，和可配置（MESo-C3）中型机器人设备，其将沿着人体的自然路径沿着行进，用于广泛的诊断和治疗应用。这包括直径为#8764;0.1- 10 mm的新型拴系和非拴系软式内窥镜、导管和微型机器人，将解决当前临床和台式器械的局限性。MESo-C3将从根本上改变医疗设备，目前涉及推，拉，或通过人体管腔的设备，积极摆动，并协助自己的推进和操纵。该项目中创造的知识和技术有可能对地球仪的医疗保健产生重大影响。胃肠道（GI）癌症是最常见和最致命的癌症之一，早期发现的生存可能性显着增加，但我们的人群仍然严重筛查不足。MESo-C3可以使GI道筛查更安全，更便宜，更有效，对患者的威胁更小。由于大脑的脆弱性和复杂结构，许多大脑疾病很难或不可能治疗。MESo-C3可以安全进入目前无法到达的大脑区域，这可能从根本上改变我们对可以说是我们最重要器官的治疗和理解。此外，增材制造领域产生的知识将产生远远超出MESo-C3的影响。该项目还为本科生提供研究机会，包括向大量高中生介绍情况，支持向代表性不足的太平洋岛民社区开展新的夏令营外联活动，并邀请工业和医学专家参加。低带宽大变形电活性聚合物（EAP）致动器;以及通过多尺度增材制造技术的超灵敏软超级电容应变、力和弹性模量传感器。我们的目标是了解3D打印MESo-C3机器人的运动学、动力学、传感和控制，并以简单的方式实现跨规模的应用。该项目包括四个综合研究目标的共同开发：（1）与以前的管道爬行机制相比，磁推进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医疗设备。将设计具有不同保真度和计算成本的各种建模工具，以阐明推进动力学，并在项目的不同阶段支持MESo-C3机器人的设计和优化。(2)基于EAP的形态控制的创新方法，可实现MESo-C3机器人的智能重新配置，操作和转向。(3)超电容传感器设计用于体液环境，能够测量机器人上的剪切力和法向力，关键位置的应变以及抓取物体的弹性模量。(4)通过软物质物理学和材料开发的基础研究来推进多尺度、多材料3D打印，以创建中尺度混合设备，并与目标1至3中的关键技术的开发无缝集成。该奖项反映了NSF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.