Bionic forceps for the handling of sensitive tissue

AbstractAnatomical forceps are used for the handling of sensitive structures in medicine. Structures which are manipulated with these forceps can get damaged or slip out of the grip of the forceps. This paper presents a forceps using the bionic Fin-Ray-Effect inspired by fish-fins in order to handle vulnerable structures in particular. During the process of development, functional models of this forceps were designed, 3D-printed and evaluated.

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A 3D-Printed Fin Ray Effect Inspired Soft Robotic Gripper with Force Feedback

Micromachines ◽

10.3390/mi12101141 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (10) ◽

pp. 1141

Author(s):

Yang Yang ◽

Kaixiang Jin ◽

Honghui Zhu ◽

Gongfei Song ◽

Haojian Lu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Industry ◽

Simple Structure ◽

Force Feedback ◽

Force Sensor ◽

Whole Body ◽

Service Robot ◽

Fin Ray ◽

Wide Range ◽

3D Printed ◽

Gripping Force

Soft robotic grippers are able to carry out many tasks that traditional rigid-bodied grippers cannot perform but often have many limitations in terms of control and feedback. In this study, a Fin Ray effect inspired soft robotic gripper is proposed with its whole body directly 3D printed using soft material without the need of assembly. As a result, the soft gripper has a light weight, simple structure, is enabled with high compliance and conformability, and is able to grasp objects with arbitrary geometry. A force sensor is embedded in the inner side of the gripper, which allows the contact force required to grip the object to be measured in order to guarantee successful grasping and to provide the most suitable gripping force. In addition, it enables control and data monitoring of the gripper’s operating state at all times. Characterization and grasping demonstration of the gripper are given in the Experiment section. Results show that the gripper can be used in a wide range of scenarios and applications, such as the service robot and food industry.

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Thyroid hormone regulates proximodistal identity in the fin skeleton

10.1101/2020.08.18.256354 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yinan Hu ◽

Melody Harper ◽

Benjamin Acosta ◽

Joan Donahue ◽

Hoa Bui ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Thyroid Hormone ◽

Expression Profiles ◽

Gene Expression Profiles ◽

Developmental Pathways ◽

Skeletal Patterning ◽

Fin Ray ◽

Fin Rays ◽

Fish Fins ◽

Fin Length

AbstractAcross the ∼30,000 species of ray-finned fish, fins show incredible diversity in overall shape and in the patterning of the supportive bony rays. Fin length mutant zebrafish have provided critical insights into the developmental pathways that regulate relative fin size. However, the processes that govern skeletal patterning along the proximodistal axis of the fin have remained less well understood. Here, we show that thyroid hormone regulates proximodistal identity of fin rays, distalizing gene expression profiles, morphogenetic processes during outgrowth, and ultimate morphology of the fin. This role for thyroid hormone in specifying proximodistal identity appears conserved between development and regeneration, in all the fins, and between species. We demonstrate that proximodistal identity is regulated independently from pathways that determine size, and we show that modulating proximodistal patterning relative to growth can recapitulate the spectrum of fin ray diversity found in nature.

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Characterising 3D-printed Soft Fin Ray Robotic Fingers with Layer Jamming Capability for Delicate Grasping

2019 2nd IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft) ◽

10.1109/robosoft.2019.8722715 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Khaled Elgeneidy ◽

Peter Lightbody ◽

Simon Pearson ◽

Gerhard Neumann

Keyword(s):

Fin Ray ◽

3D Printed ◽

Robotic Fingers

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Segmentations in fins enable large morphing amplitudes combined with high flexural stiffness for fish-inspired robotic materials

Science Robotics ◽

10.1126/scirobotics.abf9710 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (57) ◽

pp. eabf9710

Author(s):

Florent Hannard ◽

Mohammad Mirkhalaf ◽

Abtin Ameri ◽

Francois Barthelat

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Testing ◽

Soft Materials ◽

Flexural Stiffness ◽

Mechanical Modeling ◽

Prominent Feature ◽

Grasping Forces ◽

3D Printed ◽

Fish Fins ◽

And Function ◽

Continuous Material

Fish fins do not contain muscles, yet fish can change their shape with high precision and speed to produce large and complex hydrodynamic forces—a combination of high morphing efficiency and high flexural stiffness that is rare in modern morphing and robotic materials. These “flexo-morphing” capabilities are rare in modern morphing and robotic materials. The thin rays that stiffen the fins and transmit actuation include mineral segments, a prominent feature whose mechanics and function are not fully understood. Here, we use mechanical modeling and mechanical testing on 3D-printed ray models to show that the function of the segmentation is to provide combinations of high flexural stiffness and high morphing amplitude that are critical to the performance of the fins and would not be possible with rays made of a continuous material. Fish fin–inspired designs that combine very soft materials and very stiff segments can provide robotic materials with large morphing amplitudes and strong grasping forces.

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