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Neuromuscular actuation of biohybrid motile bots.

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.

SUBMITTER: Aydin O

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6778261 | biostudies-other | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Neuromuscular actuation of biohybrid motile bots.

Aydin Onur O Zhang Xiaotian X Nuethong Sittinon S Pagan-Diaz Gelson J GJ Bashir Rashid R Gazzola Mattia M Saif M Taher A MTA

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20190916 40

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-d ...[more]

PMID: 31527266

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Project description:We are reporting on the fabrication and characterization of microscale electromechanical actuators driven by the internal forces induced within the depletion region of a typical pn junction. Depletion region actuators operate based on the modulation of the interactions of the internal electric field and the net space charge within the depletion region of a pn junction by an external potential. In terms of performance, depletion region actuators fall between electrostatic actuators, where a physical gap separates the charges on two electrodes, and piezoelectric actuators, where the separation between the charges is on the order of lattice constants of the material. An analytic model of depletion region actuator response to an applied potential is developed and verified experimentally. The prototype micro-mechanical device utilized the local stresses produced by the depletion region actuators to generate mechanical vibrations at frequencies far below the resonance frequencies of the structure. A laser Doppler vibrometer was used to measure and compare the displacements and vibration patterns caused by the depletion region and electrostatic actuators. Utilizing depletion region actuators neither requires etching of narrow gaps, which is technically challenging nor is there a need for introducing piezoelectric materials into the fabrication process flow. The simple operating principle and the possibility of exploiting the technique for various optimized linear or nonlinear actuation at small scales provide opportunities for precise electro-mechanical transduction for micro- and nano-mechanical devices. These actuators are therefore suited for the co-fabrication of micro- and nano-mechanical systems and microelectronic circuits. Additionally, the produced strains depend only on the depletion region specifications and the excitation voltage and do not scale with device dimensions. As such, depletion region actuators can be candidates for efficient nanoscale electromechanical actuation.

Dataset Information

Neuromuscular actuation of biohybrid motile bots.

Publications

Neuromuscular actuation of biohybrid motile bots.

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