Medical Design Briefs - May 2024 - 30

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accelerated curing when making a device, we fabricated soft,
pneumatically actuated grippers at both elevated and room temperature
conditions, and we observed no difference in the performance
of the grippers upon pressurizing. "
While temperature did not seem to have an effect on the
elastomers' ability to withstand mechanical stress, the researchers
found that it did impact adhesion between components.
" Say we've already cured a few different components that need
to be assembled together into the complete, soft robotic system, "
Preston says. " When we then try to adhere these components to
each other, there's an impact on the adhesion or the ability to
stick them together. In this case, that is greatly affected by the
extent of curing that has occurred before we tried to bond. "
The research advances scientific understanding of how temperature
can be used to manipulate fabrication processes involving
elastomers, which could open up the soft robotics design
space for new or improved applications. One key area of
interest is the biomedical industry.
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" Surgical robots often benefit from being compliant or soft
in nature, because operating inside the human body means
you want to minimize the risk of puncture or bruising to tissue
or organs, " Preston says. " So, a lot of the robots that now operate
inside the human body are moving to softer architectures
and are benefiting from that. Some researchers have also started
to look into using soft robotic systems to help reposition
patients confined to a bed for long periods of time to try to
avoid putting pressure on certain areas. "
Other areas of potential use for soft robotics are agriculture
(for instance picking fruits or vegetables that are fragile or
bruise easily), disaster relief (search-and-rescue operations in
impacted areas with limited or difficult access) and research
(collecting or handling samples).
" This study provides a framework that could expand the design
space for manufacturing with thermally cured elastomers
to create complex structures that exhibit high elasticity which
can be used to develop medical devices, shock absorbers and
soft robots, " Yap says.
Silicone elastomers' unique properties - biocompatibility,
flexibility, thermal resistance, shock absorption, insulation and
more - will continue to be an asset in a range of industries,
and the current research can help expand and improve their
use beyond current capabilities.
The research was supported by the National Science Foundation
(2144809), the Rice Academy of Fellows, NASA (80NSSC21K1276),
the National GEM Consortium and the US Department
of Energy through an appointment with the Energy
Efficiency & Renewable Energy Science, Technology and Policy
Program administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science
and Education (ORISE) and managed by Oak Ridge Associated
Universities (ORAU) under contract number DE-SC0014664.
All opinions expressed in this press release are the authors' and
do not necessarily reflect the policies and views of the NSF,
NASA, the National GEM Consortium, the DOE, ORAU or
ORISE.
For more information, contact Daniel Preston, djp@rice.
edu, or visit www.rice.edu.
Read the full scientific paper.
www.medicaldesignbriefs.com
4/15/24 3:05 PM
Medical Design Briefs, May 2024
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Medical Design Briefs - May 2024

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