Biohybrid hand actuated by multiple human muscle tissues

Cultured muscle tissue serves as a power source in biohybrid robots that
demonstrate diverse motions. However, current designs typically only drive
simple substrates on a small scale, limiting flexibility and
controllability. To address this, we proposed a biohybrid hand with
multi-jointed fingers powered by multiple muscle tissue actuators
(MuMuTAs), bundles of thin muscle tissues. The MuMuTA can provide linear
actuation with high contractile force (~8 mN) and high contractile length
(~4 mm), which can be converted into the flexion of multi-jointed fingers
by a cable-driven mechanism. We successfully powered the biohybrid hand
achieving individual control of fingers and a variety of motions using
different signaling controls. This study showcases the potential of MuMuTA
as a driving source for advanced biohybrid robotics.