SoGut: A Soft Robotic Gastric Simulator.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Robotics
• Gastroenterology

Background:

• The human stomach utilizes peristaltic contractions for food breakdown and transport.
• Existing gastric simulators lack the anatomical realism to replicate gastric motility.
• Accurate simulation of gastric contractions is crucial for digestion research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a soft robotic gastric simulator (SoGut) that emulates human gastric peristaltic contractions.
• To investigate the force and amplitude of contractions in the SoGut simulator.
• To validate the simulator's ability to replicate physiological gastric functions.

Main Methods:

• Designed and fabricated SoGut using soft robotics principles with an array of circular air chambers.
• Studied contraction force using manometry with empty and viscosity-filled lumens.
• Investigated contraction amplitude via videofluoroscopy to derive contraction ratios.

Main Results:

• SoGut demonstrated a contracting force range comparable to the human stomach.
• The simulator's contraction ratio, as a function of inflation pressure, matched in vivo observations.
• SoGut successfully achieved in vitro peristaltic contractions, massaging and transporting contents.

Conclusions:

• SoGut effectively emulates human gastric peristaltic contractions in an anatomically realistic manner.
• The soft robotic simulator shows promise for advancing digestion research.
• SoGut can simulate physiological gastric motions for in vitro studies.