The development of robots has come a long way. Today's robots have changed the image of traditional hard metal machines and become more diverse and complicated. Robots are an expanding field, from virtual reality applications to artificial muscles. Artificial muscle is a promising application. Its applications include artificial limbs, implants, drug delivery systems and other medical equipment. According to 3D Tiger, UCLA and bio 3D printing company Aether will collaborate to develop artificial muscles.
Aether and the Henry Samueli School of Engineering at UCLA will work together to develop new technologies to make soft artificial muscles and a variety of other material structures faster and easier. Aether will work to optimize the Aether 1 bio 3D printer and its computer vision capabilities to automate the process of 3D printing software robotic devices, improving print quality and ease of use.
Aether recently upgraded its automatic offset calibration system to make embedding conductive materials easier than before, using computer vision to automatically calculate precise offsets for multiple tools and tool types. This allows users to extrude multiple materials side by side without overlapping or gaps, and enables conductive materials such as graphene or silver nanoparticles to be 3D printed directly into robotic devices, eliminating the need for wires.
Working with UCLA is personal to Aether CEO Ryan Franks, who developed pneumonia 10 years ago and was hospitalized at UCLA hospital. He was cured by Dr. Abbas Ardehali's surgical treatment. Called TV-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), it sparked Franks' interest in medical technology, which led to his establishment of Aether.
It is reported that researchers at UCLA will also join Aether's cooperation with Harvard Medical School and will receive Aether's upcoming advanced visualization AI software, which uses ASAR (Automatic Segmentation and Reconstruction) technology. ASAR allows users to view medical images, such as CT scans or X-rays. They can select the organs or tissues they need and quickly get their 3D files, a system that simplifies medical analysis and saves time.
According to 3D Tiger, Aether will launch the software in 2019 and allow users to create 3D printable organ models from medical images. According to Aether, its price will be lower than existing software. At the same time, Aether also pointed out that the software is faster than competitors and can complete tasks that previously took hours or even days to complete in seconds.