Effect of Silicone Inlaid Materials on Reinforcing Compressive Strength of Weft-Knitted Spacer Fabric for Cushioning Applications

Spacer fabrics are commonly used as cushioning materials. They can be reinforced by using a knitting method to inlay materials into the connective layer which reinforces the structure of the fabric. The compression properties of three samples that were fabricated by inlaying three different types of silicone-based elastic tubes and one sample without inlaid material have been investigated. The mechanical properties of the elastic tubes were evaluated and their relationship to the compression properties of the inlaid spacer fabrics was analysed. The compression behaviour of the spacer fabrics at an initial compressive strain of 10% is not affected by the presence of the inlaid tubes. The Young’s modulus of the inlaid tubes shows a correlation with fabric compression. Amongst the inlaid fabric samples, the spacer fabric inlaid with highly elastic silicone foam tubes can absorb more compression energy, while that inlaid with silicone tubes of higher tensile strength has higher compressive stiffness.

From Theoretical Work to Clinical Translation: Progress in Concentric Tube Robots

Continuum robots can traverse anatomical pathways to intervene in regions deep inside the human body. They are able to steer along 3D curves in confined spaces and dexterously handle tissues. Concentric tube robots (CTRs) are continuum robots that comprise a series of precurved elastic tubes that can be translated and rotated with respect to each other to control the shape of the robot and tip pose. CTRs are a rapidly maturing technology that has seen extensive research over the past decade. Today, they are being evaluated as tools for a variety of surgical applications, as they can offer precision and manipulability in tight workspaces. This review provides an exhaustive classification of research on CTRs based on their clinical applications and highlights approaches for modeling, control, design, and sensing. Competing approaches are critically presented, leading to a discussion of future directions to address the limitations of current research and its translation to clinical applications. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems, Volume 5 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Mechanics of Biohybrid Valveless Pump-bot

Engineering living systems is a rapidly emerging discipline where the functional biohybrid robotics (or ‘Bio-bots’) are built by integrating of living cells with engineered scaffolds. Inspired by embryonic heart, we presented earlier the first example of a biohybrid valveless pump-bot, an impedance pump, capable of transporting fluids powered by engineered living muscle tissues. The pump consists of a soft tube attached to rigid boundaries at the ends, and a muscle ring that squeezes the tube cyclically at an off-center location. Cyclic contraction results in a net flow through the tube. We observed that muscle force occasionally buckles the tube in a random fashion, i.e., similar muscles do not buckle the tube consistently. In order to explain this anomaly, here we develop an analytical model to predict the deformation and stability of circular elastic tubes subjected to a uniform squeezing force due to a muscle ring (like a taught rubber band). The prediction from the model is validated by comparing with experiments and finite element analysis. The non-linear model reveals that the circular elastic tube cannot buckle irrespective of muscle force. Buckling state can be reached and sustained by bending and folding the tube before applying the muscle ring. This imperfection may appear during assembly of the pump or from non-uniform thickness of the muscle ring. This study provides design guides for developing advanced biohybrid impedance pumps for diverse applications.

Pumping Patterns and Work Done During Peristalsis in Finite-Length Elastic Tubes

Balloon dilation catheters are often used to quantify the physiological state of peristaltic activity in tubular organs and comment on their ability to propel fluid which is important for healthy human function. To fully understand this system's behavior, we analyzed the effect of a solitary peristaltic wave on a fluid-filled elastic tube with closed ends. A reduced order model that predicts the resulting tube wall deformations, flow velocities and pressure variations is presented. This simplified model is compared with detailed fluid-structure 3D immersed boundary simulations of peristaltic pumping in tube walls made of hyperelastic material. The major dynamics observed in the 3D simulations were also displayed by our 1D model under laminar flow conditions. Using the 1D model, several pumping regimes were investigated and presented in the form of a regime map that summarizes the system's response for a range of physiological conditions. Finally, the amount of workdone during a peristaltic event in this configuration was defined and quantified. The variation of elastic energy and work done during pumping was found to have a unique signature for each regime. An extension of the 1D model is applied to enhance patient data collected by the device and find the work done for a typical esophageal peristaltic wave. This detailed characterization of the system's behavior aids in better interpreting the clinical data obtained from dilation catheters. Additionally, the pumping capacity of the esophagus can be quantified for comparative studies between disease groups.

An experimental investigation to model wheezing in lungs

A quarter of the world's population experience wheezing. These sounds have been used for diagnosis since the time of the Ebers Papyrus ( ca 1500 BC). We know that wheezing is a result of the oscillations of the airways that make up the lung. However, the physical mechanisms for the onset of wheezing remain poorly understood, and we do not have a quantitative model to predict when wheezing occurs. We address these issues in this paper. We model the airways of the lungs by a modified Starling resistor in which airflow is driven through thin, stretched elastic tubes. By completing systematic experiments, we find a generalized ‘tube law’ that describes how the cross-sectional area of the tubes change in response to the transmural pressure difference across them. We find the necessary conditions for the onset of oscillations that represent wheezing and propose a flutter-like instability model for it about a heavily deformed state of the tube. Our findings allow for a predictive tool for wheezing in lungs, which could lead to better diagnosis and treatment of lung diseases.