Worm-Inspired, Untethered, Soft Crawling Robots for Pipe Inspections.

The increasing demand for inspection, upkeep, and repair of pipeline and tunnel infrastructures has catalyzed research into the creation of robots with superior flexibility, adaptability, and load-bearing capacities. This study introduces an autonomous soft robot designed for navigating both straight and curved pipelines of 90 mm diameter. The soft robot is enabled by an elongation pneumatic actuator (EPA) as its body and multiple radial expansion pneumatic actuators (REPAs) as its feet to provide adhesion and support on the pipe walls.

A Novel Activated Biochar-Based Immunosensor for Rapid Detection of O157:H7.

O157:H7, one of the major foodborne pathogens, can cause a significant threat to the safety of foods. The aim of this research is to develop an activated biochar-based immunosensor that can rapidly detect O157:H7 cells without incubation in pure culture. Biochar was developed from corn stalks using proprietary reactors and then activated using steam-activation treatment.

Biomechanical characterization of isolated epineurial and perineurial membranes of rabbit sciatic nerve.

Design of interface devices for effective, long-term integration into neural tissue is dependent on the biomechanical properties of the nerve membranes. Within the peripheral nerve, the two relevant connective tissue layers for interfacing are the epineurium and perineurium. Previous work has reported the forces needed to penetrate the whole nerve, but the mechanical differences between epineurium and perineurium were not reported.

Directed stimulation with interfascicular interfaces for peripheral nerve stimulation.

Computational models have shown that directional electrical contacts placed within the epineurium, between the fascicles, and not penetrating the perineurium, can achieve selectivity levels similar to point source contacts placed within the fascicle. The objective of this study is to test, in a murine model, the hypothesis that directed interfascicular contacts are selective.Multiple interfascicular electrodes with directional contacts, exposed on a single face, were implanted in the sciatic nerves of 32 rabbits.

Chronic nerve health following implantation of femoral nerve cuff electrodes.

Background: Peripheral nerve stimulation with implanted nerve cuff electrodes can restore standing, stepping and other functions to individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). We performed the first study to evaluate the clinical electrodiagnostic changes due to electrode implantation acutely, chronic presence on the nerve peri- and post-operatively, and long-term delivery of electrical stimulation.

Methods: A man with bilateral lower extremity paralysis secondary to cervical SCI sustained 5 years prior to enrollment received an implanted standing neuroprosthesis including composite flat interface nerve electrodes (C-FINEs) electrodes implanted around the proximal femoral nerves near the inguinal ligaments.

Artificial tactile and proprioceptive feedback improves performance and confidence on object identification tasks.

Somatosensory feedback of the hand is essential for object identification. Without somatosensory feedback, individuals cannot reliably determine the size or compliance of an object. Electrical nerve stimulation can restore localized tactile and proprioceptive feedback with intensity discrimination capability similar to natural sensation.

Long term, implantable blood pressure monitoring systems.

An overview of implantable measurement systems suitable for the long-term, continuous monitoring of blood pressure is presented in this paper. The challenges, design considerations and tradeoffs inherent in these systems are overviewed and implantable sensors from both industrial and research environments are reviewed. The paper is concluded with an outlook of future directions for implantable blood pressure monitoring systems.