Supporting information underlying the publication "Design of a Wasp-Inspired Biopsy Needle Capable of Self-Propulsion and Friction-Based Tissue Transport":
S1 Data. Raw data set of the experiments
The goal of the evaluation of the wasp-inspired biopsy needle was twofold: 1) assessing the core-transport capability (excel tabs: "Test 1A", "Results 1A", "Test 1B", "Results 1B") and 2) assessing the self-propulsion ability (excel tabs: "Test 2", "Results 2"). These objectives were addressed in two separate experiments. Experiment 1 focused on core transport while Experiment 2 focused on self-propulsion. During testing, the setup involved moving tissue phantoms towards the prototype to enable keeping the prototype stationary. This contrasts a realistic scenario where the needle would advance through tissue, but since the relative movement between the needle and the tissue phantom is the same, it was assumed that this would not influence the test results.
S2 Video. Proof-of-principle of sequential self-propulsion and tissue-transport
As a proof of principle, it was assessed whether the self-propulsion and core transport could be performed sequentially. Using the set-up of Experiment 2, the wasp-inspired biopsy needle was inserted 20 mm into a gelatin block (10 wt%), measuring 80 mm in total length. The motor was turned on, allowing the needle to self-propel over a distance of 45 mm, after which the central needle segment was removed by pulling it out to allow for core extraction over the remaining 15 mm, yielding a core of 15 mm. The near-frictionless air track was then deactivated, immobilizing the gelatin block as the gelatin core was transported from the distal tip to the opening in the outer cone of the actuator.
Excel tab: "Test 3"
%I 4TU.ResearchData