Bioengineers strike back with Star Wars inspired robotic skin project

A three-year Star Wars inspired study to engineer human skin for artificial robotic muscles has been launched at the University of Bristol.

The project is aiming to develop a much more realistic model of human skin that could have potential applications for burns patients needing skin grafts.   

A team of scientists at the university are engineering a realistic model of human skin that can stretch and bend the tissue just like in the real world. Led by Dr Sara Correia Carreira, the team are combining their expertise in biology, robotics and bio-engineering to create a realistic model of skin which could potentially improve the mechanical properties of bioengineered tissue.

Skin models are currently grown on a rigid plastic membrane resulting in them being flat and static. To mimic the muscles underneath real skin, the team will replace the rigid membrane with something stretchy, allowing natural movements to be applied to the engineered skin. This could improve the mechanical properties of the tissue so that it closely matches the characteristics of real skin.

The team will assess how well topically applied medication penetrates into the skin model as it moves. This will help the team evaluate if it offers a more realistic and life-like alternative to current static models.

Combining bioengineered skin with robotic muscles could benefit burn patients through the development of skin grafts which are more life-like. This could result in more successful transplants, which are less likely to tear or be rejected because their structure more closely resembles real skin.

The biggest challenge for the team is finding a way to grow the skin on the robotic muscles underneath, something which has never been done before.

Dr Sara Correia Carreira from Bristol's Faculty of Health Sciences, said: "As a child I remember being fascinated by the robotic hand of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back. Interfacing the living with the non-living to restore function or create something entirely new seemed a tremendously exciting idea.

"In this project, robotic muscles will help us to include natural movements in our laboratory models of human skin, and they will also be a mechanism to engineer better replacement tissues for transplantation. This could be a real game-changer in healthcare."