| Despite impressive advances in the surgical field in the medical industry, physicians are still struggling with a fundamental problem: soft-tissue grasping. As a persistent problem in minimally invasive surgery, we currently have high-clip Pinch bulky grasping instruments to manipulate the soft tissue model will not slip, but these tools have many shortcomings, relying entirely on the stability of the surgeon in order to be successful.But due to an ambitious engineering students and some 3D printing technology may change soon.  Tim van Broekhoven, a recent graduate of Deloitte University in the Netherlands (TU Delft), is also the soft-tissue grasp of the elite behind the new idea of technological innovation. "The van Broekhoven Engineering Master's thesis seeks to overcome the current problem of soft tissue surgery." Although the problem itself It is nothing new, but engineering students instead seek inspiration at least as innovative. In his summary, van Broekhoven explains: 'In essence, there are several animal species that use adhesive force for grabbing, not just hard, but soft matrices. In these animals, as geckos and tree frogs Geckos and tree frogs are therefore particularly interested in designing grip systems. "Delft University graduates continue to describe geckos and tree frog toe pads particularly relevant here, the primary means by which these creatures sit Climb up and skip their environment without slipping. The inner workings of these toe pads exhibit the best natural evolution: characterized by micro-level columnar structures, soft toe pads also have a hard internal fiber network; all of which contribute to enhancing the animal's foot and outer surface Perhaps the most exciting is that this structure can be imitated to promote artificial ways to achieve these tiny creatures displaying sticky grip. van Broekhoven continues his study of this mechanism through his 3D printing in his essay entitled "Modeling Gecko and Tree Frog Sticking Soft Substrates." He writes that his basic goal is to study whether reinforcing a cushion with rigid fibers Instead of using fiber-free cushions, it increased the friction of the soft substrate. To test his hypothesis, van Broekhoven conducted three separate experiments. In the first experiment, he created a special polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) mat, which encapsulates 3D printed fibers to test the adhesion and friction of the composite.In Experiment 2, A similar PDMS pad uses harder 3D printed fibers Finally, in the final experiment, van Broekhoven used a carbon fiber fabric in a PDMS pad.In both experiments, hard and soft gels of different hardness all played The role of soft gelatin as human soft tissue 'phantom'. Source: China 3D printing network |
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