Characterization of the Mandible Atta Laevigata and the Bioinspiration for the Development of a Biomimetic Surgical Clamp

Abstract

Approximately thousand years ago it was reported the use of mandibles of ants for suture. In this sense, bioinspired components, as absorbable surgical clamps, can be designed. This study is aimed to characterize the mandible of the ant Atta laevigata in order to help the selection of candidate biomaterials for application as surgical clamps. Three pairs of mandibles were used and ten nanoindenations were performed in each pair. The average hardness for the samples in the internal and external regions were 0.36 ± 0.06 GPa and 0.19 ± 0.04 GPa, respectively and the average elastic modulus for the internal and external regions were 6.16 ± 0.23 GPa and 2.74 ± 0.44 GPa, respectively. The morphology of the mandible was observed in detail by scanning electron microscopy, as well as Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The average roughnesses on the internal and external regions, measured by atomic force microscopy, were 6.73 ± 0.90 nm and 11.87 ± 1.42 nm, respectively. From these results, it was possible to identify biomaterials that mimic the mandible behaviour for surgical clamp.

Cuticular microstructure of Australian ant mandibles confirms common appendage construction

“…This feature is often documented in arthropod cuticle (Bresciani, ; Dalingwater, ; Selden, ) as pore canals transport nutrients, excrement, wax and metals through the cuticle (Brito et al, ; Chen et al, ; Cribb et al, ; Mekhanikova et al, ; Neville, ). Formicidan taxa impregnate metal in mandible cuticle to increase the strength and durability thereof (Cribb et al, ; Edwards et al, ; Schofield, Nesson, & Richardson, ).…”

“…External morphology of ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) mandibles is thoroughly documented (Cribb et al, ; Da Silva Camargo, Hastenreiter, Forti, Lopes, & Floriano, ; Manting et al, ; Manton, ). However, the internal microstructure appears somewhat under‐explored (e.g., Brito et al, ; Joshua Gibson, pers. comms, 2018), despite the possible use of cuticle microstructure in taxonomy (Wheeler, ).…”

“…Confirming this hypothesis allows us to explore the conserved nature of cuticle construction across varied morphologies. This work builds on the use of transverse cuticular sections to examine internal features (Brito et al, ; Cribb et al, ; Edwards, Fawke, McClements, Smith, & Wyeth, ); a method applied recently to other extant and fossil arthropod taxa (Bicknell, Paterson, Caron, & Skovsted, ).…”

Snap-jaw morphology is specialized for high-speed power amplification in the Dracula ant, Mystrium camillae

“…The magnitude of the applied force, F add , was estimated from an inverse dynamics analysis of high-speed videos of mandible strikes: Fadd=Ek,maxθd,where θ is the angular displacement where E k,max is attained and d is the in-lever distance between the point of muscle attachment and the centre of mandible rotation (figure 1). The estimated bite force to produce the observed motion was 0.35 N. The cuticle material was modelled to be isotropic and given a Young's modulus of 2.75 GPa and Poisson ratio of 0.3 based on previous measurements of the leaf-cutting ant Atta mandibles [26].…”

Mandibular morphology, task specialization, and bite mechanics inPheidoleants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

“…We constrained nodal displacement in x, y, and z directions and apply a 1 N load uniformly distributed among nodes in all simulations. We modeled the mandible cuticle as an isotropic and linearly elastic material, setting Young's modulus as 2.75GPa and the Poisson's ratio as 0.3, based on measures from the cuticle of ant mandibles available in the literature (Brito et al, 2017). The only source of variation for each biting simulation between species and workers was the morphology of the mandibles.…”