Elastomeric spring actuator using nylon wires

Medical devices are designed for collaboration with the human body, which makes the steps to create them increasingly more complex if the device is to be implanted. Soft robots have the unique potential of meeting both the mechanical compliance with the interacting tissues and the controlled functionality needed for a repair or replacement. Soft devices that fulfill fundamental mechanical roles are needed as parts of soft robots in order to carry out desired tasks. As the medical devices become increasingly low-profile, soft devices must feature multi-functionality that is embedded in the structure. A device embedded with nylon actuators allows for the controlled collapsing of an elastomeric spring by compression alone or compression and twisting. In this paper we present the concept of a novel elastomeric spring, its fabrication and mechanical characterization

Gastrostomy Feeding and Gastroesophageal Reflux

There are several indications for gastrostomy tube insertion in pediatrics, and the commonest is to overcome oral-motor impairment and feeding difficulties. Insertion of a PEG feeding tube carries with it a relatively low risk of complications, but gastroesophageal reflux may be problematic especially in children with neurological impairment. This chapter considers the causes, prevalence, diagnosis, and management both medical and surgical of gastroesophageal reflux in children who have received a gastrostomy feeding tube

Low-power and low-cost stiffness-variable oesophageal tissue phantom

18th Annual Conference on Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems, TAROS 2017; Guildford; United Kingdom; 19 July 2017 through 21 July 2017Biological tissues are complex structures with changing mechanical properties depending on physiological or pathological factors. Thus they are extendible under normal conditions or stiff if they are subject to an inflammatory reaction. We design and fabricate a low-power and low-cost stiffness-variable tissue phantom (SVTP) that can extend up to 250% and contract up to 5.4% at 5 V (1.4 W), mimicking properties of biological tissues. We investigated the mechanical characteristics of SVTP in simulation and experiment. We also demonstrate its potential by building an oesophagus phantom for testing appropriate force controls in a robotic implant that is meant to manipulate biological oesophageal tissues with changing stiffness in vivo. The entire platform permits efficient testing of robotic implants in the context of anomalies such as long gap esophageal atresia, and could potentially serve as a replacement for live animal tissues.University of Sheffiel