Aplysia Californica as a Novel Source of Material for Biohybrid Robots and Organic Machines

Webster, Victoria A.; Chapin, Katherine; Hawley, Emma L.; Patel, Jill; Akkuş, Ozan; Chiel, Hillel J.; Quinn, Roger D.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-42417-0_33

Cited by 20 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Due to the infancy state of biobots, most of them developed to date feature a single DOF. For example, micropumps driven by cardiomyocytes [100,161], biobots made from California sea hare I2 muscles [174], and robots driven by a single E. coli [175] are all single-DOF structures. Dokmeci et al [164] creatively designed a biological driver with a four-layer structure through a bottom-up approach, which is composed of PEG hydrogel, carbon nanotube array, CNT-GelMA, and myocardial tissue.…”

Section: Single-dofmentioning

confidence: 99%

The emerging technology of biohybrid micro-robots: a review

2021

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In the past few decades, robotics research has witnessed an increasingly high interest in miniaturized, intelligent, and integrated robots. The imperative component of a robot is the actuator that determines its performance. Although traditional rigid drives such as motors and gas engines have shown great prevalence in most macroscale circumstances, the reduction of these drives to the millimeter or even lower scale results in a significant increase in manufacturing difficulty accompanied by a remarkable performance decline. Biohybrid robots driven by living cells can be a potential solution to overcome these drawbacks by benefiting from the intrinsic microscale self-assembly of living tissues and high energy efficiency, which, among other unprecedented properties, also feature flexibility, self-repair, and even multiple degrees of freedom. This paper systematically reviews the development of biohybrid robots. First, the development of biological flexible drivers is introduced while emphasizing on their advantages over traditional drivers. Second, up-to-date works regarding biohybrid robots are reviewed in detail from three aspects: biological driving sources, actuator materials, and structures with associated control methodologies. Finally, the potential future applications and major challenges of biohybrid robots are explored. Graphic abstract

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Section: Single-dofmentioning

confidence: 99%

The emerging technology of biohybrid micro-robots: a review

2021

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“…The use of chemicals for regulation of contractile response of DV tissue with several neuropeptides was also proved (Akiyama et al, 2008) and, recently, Tanaka et al demonstrated the fabrication of a biohybrid pump powered by earthworm muscle, chemically modulated by the addition of acetylcholine, although with a slow response time of 42 s (Tanaka et al, 2019). Moreover, Webster et al fabricated a 3D‐printed biohybrid robot capable of crawling at speeds of around 80 μm/s (Webster et al, 2016). Isolation, optimization of culture conditions and cryopreservation of embryonic muscle cells from tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta larvae was studied by Baryshyah et al, demonstrating the expression of contractile proteins like myosin heavy chain and the presence of sarcomeric structures (Baryshyan et al, 2012).…”

Section: Hybrid Machines At the Macroscalementioning

confidence: 99%

Biohybrid robotics: From the nanoscale to the macroscale

Mestre

Patiño

Sánchez

2021

WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol

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Biohybrid robotics is a field in which biological entities are combined with artificial materials in order to obtain improved performance or features that are difficult to mimic with hand‐made materials. Three main level of integration can be envisioned depending on the complexity of the biological entity, ranging from the nanoscale to the macroscale. At the nanoscale, enzymes that catalyze biocompatible reactions can be used as power sources for self‐propelled nanoparticles of different geometries and compositions, obtaining rather interesting active matter systems that acquire importance in the biomedical field as drug delivery systems. At the microscale, single enzymes are substituted by complete cells, such as bacteria or spermatozoa, whose self‐propelling capabilities can be used to transport cargo and can also be used as drug delivery systems, for in vitro fertilization practices or for biofilm removal. Finally, at the macroscale, the combinations of millions of cells forming tissues can be used to power biorobotic devices or bioactuators by using muscle cells. Both cardiac and skeletal muscle tissue have been part of remarkable examples of untethered biorobots that can crawl or swim due to the contractions of the tissue and current developments aim at the integration of several types of tissue to obtain more realistic biomimetic devices, which could lead to the next generation of hybrid robotics. Tethered bioactuators, however, result in excellent candidates for tissue models for drug screening purposes or the study of muscle myopathies due to their three‐dimensional architecture. This article is categorized under: Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Nanoscale Systems in Biology

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“…Furthermore, the velocity of the device can be increased 8-fold by addition of crustacean cardioactive peptide to the surrounding medium. Additionally, the marine mollusk Aplysia californica has been investigated as a source of muscle tissue (48). Aplysia ’s open circulatory system allows thin muscles to function without specific vasculature, which may simplify the design of larger robots.…”

Section: Organic Components In Roboticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organismal engineering: Toward a robotic taxonomic key for devices using organic materials

et al. 2017

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*Engineers are often inspired by the behavioral flexibility and robustness seen in nature. Recent advances in tissue engineering now allow the use of organic components in robotic applications. By integrating organic and synthetic components, researchers are moving toward the development of engineered organisms whose structural framework, actuation, sensing, and control are partially or completely organic. This review discusses recent exciting work demonstrating how organic components can be used for all facets of robot development. On the basis of this analysis, we propose a robotic taxonomic key to guide the field toward a unified lexicon for device description.

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Aplysia Californica as a Novel Source of Material for Biohybrid Robots and Organic Machines

Cited by 20 publications

References 18 publications

The emerging technology of biohybrid micro-robots: a review

The emerging technology of biohybrid micro-robots: a review

Biohybrid robotics: From the nanoscale to the macroscale

Organismal engineering: Toward a robotic taxonomic key for devices using organic materials

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