MS- 2-8
Mini-symposium title
2-8 – Mechanics of Soft Robotic Devices
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Organisers
Ellen Roche (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Xuanhe Zhao (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Eimear Dolan (NUI Galway)
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Mini-symposium description
Soft robotic technologies are highly suited to medical applications involving human tissue interaction because of their unique properties including inherent conformability, tuneable moduli in the range of soft tissue and ability to achieve programmable, biomimetic motion. Devices incorporating soft robotic elements can interact mechanically with tissues to regulate biological function – either external to or implanted in the body. They represent a highly versatile and adaptive dynamic platform but in order for this technology to reach its full potential the mechanics of the devices themselves as well as the resulting biological responses must be understood.
This mini-symposium will cover this interdisciplinary topic, incorporating aspects including but not limited to; experimental and numerical modelling of the mechanical behaviour of soft robotic devices, analysis and recapitulation of biomimetic motion, augmentation of biological function, design of functional, mechanically tuneable materials for soft robotic devices and in vivo characterization of host/device interaction. The symposium aims to gather researchers to engage in discussions about methods, approaches and results in the different areas related to the mechanics of soft robotic devices and to identify potential for fostering collaborative efforts within the community.
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