Tokyo [Japan], February 15 : A biohybrid hand which can move objects and make a scissor gesture has been created. The researchers used thin strings of lab-grown muscle tissue bundled into sushilike rolls to give the fingers enough strength to contract. It is named multiple muscle tissue actuators (MuMuTAs).
For the researchers' MuMuTAs are a major development towards building larger biohybrid limbs. While currently limited to the lab environment, MuMuTAs have the potential to advance future biohybrid prosthetics, aid drug testing on muscle tissue, and broaden the potential of biohybrid robotics to mimic real-life forms.
The hand is made of a 3D-printed plastic base, with tendons of human muscle tissue moving the fingers. Until now, biohybrid devices have typically been on a much smaller scale (about one centimetre long) or limited to simpler or single-joint movements.
However, this biohybrid hand is 18 cm in length and has multiple fingers, which can be moved individually to make gestures or in combination to manipulate objects.
"Our key achievement was developing the MuMuTAs. These are thin strands of muscle tissue grown in a culture medium and then rolled up into a bundle like a sushi roll to make each tendon," explained Professor Shoji Takeuchi from the University of Tokyo.
He added, "Creating the MuMuTAs enabled us to overcome our biggest challenge, which was to ensure enough contractile force and length in the muscles to drive the hand's large structure."
Thick muscle tissue, which is needed to move larger limbs, is difficult to grow in the lab, as it suffers from necrosis. This is when insufficient nutrients reach the centre of the muscle, resulting in tissue loss. However, by using multiple thin muscle tissues bundled together to act as one larger muscle, the team was able to create tendons with enough strength.
The MuMuTAs are stimulated using electrical currents delivered through waterproof cables. To test the hand's abilities, the team manipulated the fingers to form a scissor gesture by contracting the little finger, ring finger, and thumb.
They also used their fingers to grasp and move the tip of a pipette. This demonstrated the hand's ability to mimic a range of actions, as the multijointed fingers can be flexed either separately or at the same time, an impressive feat.
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