About the Project
Aim: To develop and experimentally evaluate soft robotic implant architectures that can dynamically interact with gastrointestinal tissues while maintaining mechanical compatibility, functional performance and long-term stability under physiologically relevant conditions.
Hypothesis: A gastrointestinal implant whose mechanical response can adapt to physiological deformation will maintain more favourable tissue-device interactions over time than an implant with fixed mechanical properties.
Objectives:
Objective 1. Define the mechanical requirements for soft robotic GI implants
Characterise the mechanical environment and tissue–device interaction requirements relevant to gastrointestinal tissue repair, including physiological deformation, loading, compliance, pressure and cyclic motion. Establish design criteria for mechanically compatible implants capable of operating within these conditions.
Objective 2. Develop compliant, sustainable soft robotic implant architectures
Design and fabricate novel soft robotic structures that can conform to gastrointestinal tissue while providing controlled mechanical support or therapeutic forces. Investigate how geometry, material properties and structural compliance influence deformation, force transmission and mechanical compatibility, and what type of architectures could lead to sustainable functionality of the implant.
Objective 3. Develop and characterise soft actuation and sensing strategies
Develop soft actuation and, where appropriate, material-integrated sensing approaches that can operate under physiologically relevant constraints. Characterise their force generation, deformation, response time, energy requirements, fatigue resistance and durability under repeated loading.
Objective 4. Investigate adaptive interaction between the implant and gastrointestinal tissue
Develop experimental models to investigate how the implant responds to changes in tissue geometry, loading and physiological motion. Explore mechanisms through which the implant can passively or actively adapt its mechanical response to maintain appropriate tissue interaction over time.
Objective 5. Demonstrate and evaluate a prototype soft robotic implant
Integrate the most promising material, structural, actuation and sensing concepts into a proof-of-concept implant. Evaluate its mechanical performance, durability and tissue compatibility under increasingly realistic experimental conditions, with the potential for ex vivo or in vivo evaluation through established clinical collaborations.
Applications of the implant include: tissue regeneration, tissue stent, long-term surgical functions, etc.
This project can be adjusted depending on the applicant’s interest in engineering. The project is suitable for applicants with backgrounds in robotics, mechanical engineering, mechatronics, bioengineering, materials engineering, control, chemical engineering or related disciplines.
The student will receive interdisciplinary training in soft robotic design, soft-material fabrication, biomedical device development, experimental characterisation and medical robotics. The project offers an opportunity to contribute to the development of next-generation therapeutic technologies at the interface of robotics, materials science and regenerative medicine.
Please get in touch with Dana Damian (d.damian@sheffield.ac.uk) if you would like to have an informal chat about this project.
References
https://sites.google.com/site/danadamian
Funding Notes
We welcome inquiries from:
- applicants that have already secured PhD funding
- self-funded applicants
The project is suitable for applicants with backgrounds in robotics, mechanical engineering, mechatronics, bioengineering, materials engineering, control, chemical engineering or related disciplines.
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