When it comes to 3D printing, the sky is the limit. As 3D printing technology continues to advance, applications can be as far reaching as airplane and automobile parts to medical devices and even anatomically correct, biocompatible models. Although 3D printing technology is developing at a rapid pace, the technology itself is not new. It emerged in the 1980s as a means of creating rapid prototypes. In recent years the applications for 3D printed models have evolved with the available hardware, software, and printable materials. Evolving technology, paired with the creative and innovative minds of scientists, engineers, and physicians, has been the launching pad for developments within 3D printing technology specific to healthcare. One way 3D printing technology is poised to create better patient outcomes is in creating an anatomically and patient-specific models to aid in surgery and medical procedures. With the capability to 3D ...
Prosthetic limbs have come a long way over the past decade and a half. However, no matter how advanced the robotics behind prosthesis become, they have one innate downfall – users do not have any sense of touch. Because of this, users must be able to use their other senses, such as sight, to determine what they are doing when they are operating a robotic hand, for instance. Fortunately, new research from Seoul National University and Cambridge-based wearables startup, MC10, polymeric skin may allow prosthesis wearers to feel again.
New developments in prosthesis
Thanks to significant advances in robotics, artificial limbs are more dexterous than ever. This is perhaps best represented by the DEKA "Luke Arm," which gives the wearer enough agility and control to eat with chopsticks. This pioneering bionic arm was recently approved by the FDA, which shows promise for the technology, but users are still unable to feel what they touch. In order to provide wearers of prosthetic limbs a more complete and human experience, researchers have been working on developing a skin that could be placed over a device like the Luke Arm. The new polymer skin from MC10 and Seoul National University is densely packed with sensors that can give significant feedback into a wearer's nervous system to simulate the sense of touch. The skin is designed to stretch and contract with the elasticity of real skin, which will enable engineers to use it in a wide array of applications.
Thanks to significant advances in robotics, artificial limbs are more dexterous than ever. This is perhaps best represented by the DEKA "Luke Arm," which gives the wearer enough agility and control to eat with chopsticks. This pioneering bionic arm was recently approved by the FDA, which shows promise for the technology, but users are still unable to feel what they touch. In order to provide wearers of prosthetic limbs a more complete and human experience, researchers have been working on developing a skin that could be placed over a device like the Luke Arm. The new polymer skin from MC10 and Seoul National University is densely packed with sensors that can give significant feedback into a wearer's nervous system to simulate the sense of touch. The skin is designed to stretch and contract with the elasticity of real skin, which will enable engineers to use it in a wide array of applications.
"Thanks to significant advances in robotics, artificial limbs are more dexterous than ever."
Complex sensor networks
According to Smithsonian Magazine, this novel cyberskin features gold and silicon sensors suspended in elastomer, a polymer with significant viscoelasticity, meaning it has both viscosity and elasticity. Elastomers are a kind of amorphous polymer that are above their glass transition temperature at room temperature. As a result, the cyberskin is soft and deformable at body temperatures too. These properties allow the skin to stretch, but also to completely rebound to its original shape over and over again with use.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, this novel cyberskin features gold and silicon sensors suspended in elastomer, a polymer with significant viscoelasticity, meaning it has both viscosity and elasticity. Elastomers are a kind of amorphous polymer that are above their glass transition temperature at room temperature. As a result, the cyberskin is soft and deformable at body temperatures too. These properties allow the skin to stretch, but also to completely rebound to its original shape over and over again with use.
In order to emulate human epidermis, the artificial skin packs as many as 400 sensors into each square millimeter, the news source reported. The strips of gold and silicon are woven into a lattice, which has better stretching capabilities than other configurations. The flexible lattice can easily bend and stretch significant distances without snapping or fracturing the delicate filaments. By combining thousands of these tiny strips, the network of flexible electrodes is able to function like an organic nervous system and is capable of detecting temperature, humidity, pressure and physical strain.
In an effort to make this new skin as true to life as possible, the engineers have created different varieties featuring various levels of flexibility and softness to represent the different kinds of skin on an actual human body. For instance, skin that is meant for use on a joint like a knee or elbow is thicker and more flexible, while skin meant for hands is thinner and slightly less flexible. As an added element of verisimilitude, tiny heaters warm the polymer, giving it the lifelike warmth of real skin.
Early phases of testing and future applications
At the moment, the artificial skin is in very early proof-of-concept development and testing. The team has already demonstrated the viability of the actual physical attributes of the polymer/sensor hybridization, but actually connecting the device to a person's nervous system has thus far proven challenging. For the purposes of testing, the researchers successfully connected a rat's nervous system to a prototype with a series of platinum nanowires. In this configuration, the team was able to get the skin to trigger the lab rat's sensory cortex, but they were unable to determine what senses were being engaged. The next step of research will address larger animals, and if those tests are successful, then the engineers will move on to human trials.
At the moment, the artificial skin is in very early proof-of-concept development and testing. The team has already demonstrated the viability of the actual physical attributes of the polymer/sensor hybridization, but actually connecting the device to a person's nervous system has thus far proven challenging. For the purposes of testing, the researchers successfully connected a rat's nervous system to a prototype with a series of platinum nanowires. In this configuration, the team was able to get the skin to trigger the lab rat's sensory cortex, but they were unable to determine what senses were being engaged. The next step of research will address larger animals, and if those tests are successful, then the engineers will move on to human trials.
Although the artificial skin is meant for prosthetics, the future potential of this technology is nearly limitless. This technology will surely benefit roboticists as they seek to create more humanoid robots that are better able to interact with the world around them. As robots become more sophisticated and commonplace, they are rapidly moving from behind safety glass and into people's living rooms. Exciting as this may be, hard metal robots pose a significant risk to humans. By giving robots soft, humanoid skins that are equipped with sensors, these automated machines become much safer and informed about the world around them.
The researchers, led by Dae-Hyeong Kim of Seoul National University, have already patented the design for their artificial skin, but, according to Smithsonian Magazine, they have no solid timeline for bringing this product to market. Moving forward, the SNU and MC10 team certainly has its work cut out for it, but with a bit of inspiration and determination, prosthetic limb users might soon have their sense of touch returned to them.
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