RESUMEN

This study develops a biomimetic soft octopus suction device with integrated self-sensing capabilities designed to enhance the precision and safety of cardiac surgeries. The device draws inspiration from the octopus's exceptional ability to adhere to various surfaces and its sophisticated proprioceptive system, allowing for real-time adjustment of adhesive force. The research integrates thin-film pressure sensors into the soft suction cup design, emulating the tactile capabilities of an octopus's sucker to convey information about the contact environment in real time. Signals from sensors within soft materials exhibiting complex strain characteristics are processed and interpreted using the grey wolf optimizer-back propagation (GWO-BP) algorithm. The tissue stabilizer is endowed with the self-sensing capabilities of biomimetic octopus suckers, and real-time feedback on the adhesion state is provided. The embedding location of the thin-film pressure sensors is determined through foundational experiments with flexible substrates, standard spherical tests, and biological tissue trials. The newly fabricated suction cups undergo compression pull-off tests to collect data. The GWO-BP algorithm model accurately identifies and predicts the suction cup's adhesion force in real time, with an error rate below 0.97% and a mean prediction time of 0.0027 s. Integrating this technology offers a novel approach to intelligent monitoring and attachment assurance during cardiac surgeries. Hence, the probability of potential cardiac tissue damage is reduced, with future applications for integrating intelligent biomimetic adhesive soft robotics.

RESUMEN

The emergence of the field of soft robotics has led to an interest in suction cups as auxiliary structures on soft continuum arms to support the execution of manipulation tasks. This application poses demanding requirements on suction cups with respect to sensorization, adhesion under non-ideal contact conditions, and integration into fully soft systems. The octopus can serve as an important source of inspiration for addressing these challenges. This review aims to accelerate research in octopus-inspired suction cups by providing a detailed analysis of the octopus sucker, determining meaningful performance metrics for suction cups on the basis of this analysis, and evaluating the state-of-the-art in suction cups according to these performance metrics. In total, 47 records describing suction cups are found, classified according to the deployed actuation method, and evaluated on performance metrics reflecting the level of sensorization, adhesion, and integration. Despite significant advances in recent years, the octopus sucker outperforms all suction cups on all performance metrics. The realization of high resolution tactile sensing in suction cups and the integration of such sensorized suction cups in soft continuum structures are identified as two major hurdles toward the realization of octopus-inspired manipulation strategies in soft continuum robot arms.

RESUMEN

Rigid suckers commonly used in surgical procedures often cause absorption damage, while their soft counterparts are difficult to handle due to their weak anchoring. Alternatively, the octopus sucker is both soft and has strong suction power. Further observation revealed that its structure is self-sealing and that the tissues are layered in hardness. Inspired by said structure and the characteristics of associated materials, a bionic soft sucker with stiffness gradient and acetabular roof structure was proposed, made of silicone with varying hardness including structures such as acetabular roof and circle muscles. The automatic tensile force measurement system was used to experimentally analyze the adsorption performance of the suckers to the soft curved contact surface. Both dry and wet conditions were tested, along with practical tests on organisms. The bionic sucker adsorption force was increased by 25.1% and 34.6% on the cylindrical surface, and 45.2% and 7.3% on the spherical surface for dry and wet conditions, respectively. During the experiment, the bionic suckers did not cause notable suction damage to the contact surfaces. Thus, this type of bionic sucker shows good application prospects in the field of surgery.

Asunto(s)

Octopodiformes , Adsorción , Animales , Biónica , Fenómenos Mecánicos , Octopodiformes/fisiología , Succión

RESUMEN

Octopus suckers are able to attach to any smooth surface and many rough surfaces. Here, we have discovered that the sucker surface, which has been hypothesised to be responsible for sealing the orifice during adhesion, is not smooth as previously assumed, but is completely covered by a dense network of hair-like micro-outgrowths. This finding is particularly important because it provides another demonstration of the role of hair-structures in a sealing mechanism in water, similar to that previously described for clingfish and abalones. Moreover, the discovered hairs may provide an additional adhesive mechanism that works in concert with suction. The discovered surface structures might be potentially interesting for biomimetics of novel technical suction cups with improved adhesion capabilities on non-smooth surfaces.