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Neuromuscular actuation of biohybrid motile bots.
- Source :
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . Oct2019, Vol. 116 Issue 40, p19841-19847. 7p. - Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- The integration of muscle cells with soft robotics in recent years has led to the development of biohybrid machines capable of untethered locomotion. A major frontier that currently remains unexplored is neuronal actuation and control of such muscle-powered biohybrid machines. As a step toward this goal, we present here a biohybrid swimmer driven by on-board neuromuscular units. The body of the swimmer consists of a free-standing soft scaffold, skeletal muscle tissue, and optogenetic stem cell-derived neural cluster containing motor neurons. Myoblasts embedded in extracellular matrix self-organize into a muscle tissue guided by the geometry of the scaffold, and the resulting muscle tissue is cocultured in situ with a neural cluster. Motor neurons then extend neurites selectively toward the muscle and innervate it, developing functional neuromuscular units. Based on this initial construct, we computationally designed, optimized, and implemented light-sensitive flagellar swimmers actuated by these neuromuscular units. Cyclic muscle contractions, induced by neural stimulation, drive time-irreversible flagellar dynamics, thereby providing thrust for untethered forward locomotion of the swimmer. Overall, this work demonstrates an example of a biohybrid robot implementing neuromuscular actuation and illustrates a path toward the forward design and control of neuron-enabled biohybrid machines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *NEURAL stimulation
*MOTOR neurons
*SKELETAL muscle
*MUSCLE cells
*SOFT robotics
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00278424
- Volume :
- 116
- Issue :
- 40
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 138969309
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1907051116