BioMeld - A Modular Framework for Designing and Producing Biohybrid Machines

Although medicine has made great strides in the field of cancer treatment, many obstacles still remain. For instance, even if a drug has proved efficient in a lab, it may not be so in a patient. Many cancers are highly desmoplastic. Thick fibrous tissue forms around and inside the tumour, making it highly inaccessible for conventional methods of drug delivery. A possible solution to this “logistical” problem lies in biohybrid machines (BHMs).

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BHMs are a relatively new concept, but one that shows great promise. These machines combine living cell actuators and artificial materials, and as such are more flexible, autonomous, and energy efficient than conventional robots.

The goal of project BioMeld is to design and manufacture a biohybrid catheter that would be small and flexible enough to gain access to hard-to-reach areas and deliver drugs on site. In order to achieve this, we will develop a modelling and simulation framework, test it and optimize it by developing a reconfigurable modular BHM catheter, and group the necessary manufacturing equipment into a biointelligent manufacturing cell (BIMC).

If successful, BioMeld will result in a streamlined manufacturing process that can be scaled up. This will be a pioneering effort, since nothing similar has ever been done in the field of BHM manufacturing.

Objectives

DEVELOP A MODELLING AND SIMULATION FRAMEWORK FOR THE DIGITAL DESIGN OF BHMS

FABRICATE A SET OF BHM-BASED MODULES FOR A RECONFIGURABLE MODULAR CATHETER

VALIDATE THE FRAMEWORK

CONSTRUCT THE DEMONSTRATION BIMC (BIO-INTELLIGENT MANUFACTURING CELL)

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Latest News

BioMeld at BioRob2024 The 10th edition of the IEEE International Conference on Biomedical Robotics andBiomechatronics (BioRob2024) was held from 1st to 4th of September in Heidelberg, Germany. BioRob

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CIRP ICME ’24 The 18th CIRP Conference on Intelligent Computation in Manufacturing Engineering (CIRP ICME ’24) was held in Ischia (Naples) from 10th to 12th of July 2024. The Conference was or

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Joint experiments at IBEC We are excited to share with you the news of joint experimental sessions on the preliminary testing of the catheter functionality. The experiments were carried out at IBEC fa

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Light-based bioprinting IBEC is currently exploring other fabrication techniques for the development of 3D skeletal muscle-based actuators. Internship student Roja Baumann, who has Bachelor’s de

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BioMeld Newsletter #1 We are excited to present to you the first edition of our Newsletter, which marks the end of the first leg of our project journey. As we reflect on the achievements and challenge

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CIRP ICME ’23 Conference The 17th CIRP Conference on Intelligent Computation in Manufacturing Engineering (CIRP ICME ’23), 12-14 July 2023, Ischia, Italy, sponsored by the International Acade

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The first BioMeld Workshop The first workshop for the BioMeld project was held on 10 June in Genoa as part of the Living Machines 2023 conference. The Workshop focused on providing a comprehensive ove

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BioMeld Project Meeting The BioMeld Workshop, held on 10 July as part of the Living Machines 2023 conference, provided a platform for the consortium members to convene beforehand and engage in discuss

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This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101070328.

Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

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