Robotic Muscles Could Turn Back Body Clock by 2050, Say Experts

As people get older, loss of strength and muscle wastage is unavoidable, which harms health and quality of life. Sarcopenia is the loss of skeletal muscle mass, strength, and function associated with the aging process. Current sarcopenia treatment options are based on external devices such as orthoses and rigid exoskeletons, but these can cause tissue damage and are limited in use.

emPOWER, a new visionary project has explored how artificial muscles could transform the treatment options in the future and effectively turn back the body clock. The project was led by Jonathan Rossiter, Professor of Robotics at the University of Bristol, in partnership with Imperial College, UCL and the NIHR Devices for Dignity MedTech Co-operative, hosted by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust.

The researchers are working on implanting robotic, artificial muscles to replace or work alongside the body's own muscle, which can restore natural body function, and help lead more comfortable and active lives.

"emPOWER implantable muscles must work seamlessly with the body. They must be biocompatible, integrate smoothly and strongly with natural bone and tissue, and coordinate intelligently with the patient's own movements and muscle actions," said Professor Rossiter.

The emPOWER project is a multi-disciplinary team of 30 researchers across the fields of soft robotics, materials science, bioengineering, chemistry, ethics, healthcare regulation, and medicine.

"Together the emPOWER team will deliver a system of implantable muscles that receive their energy from outside the body, for example from a small power pack, and which communicate directly with the nervous system for control and sensing.

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"This is truly a project for 2050 and beyond, taking an adventurous approach that leap-frogs current state-of-the-art research. There is considerable work to be done but we confidently expect to see emPOWER artificial muscles in clinical use before 2050."

Source-Medindia