Snail-Inspired Soft Robots for High Precision Drug Delivery to Malignant Tumours

When successful, this work will enable a step change in our approach to bowel cancer treatment by developing miniaturised soft robots for regiospecific localisation of drugs in malignant tissues. Inspiration for this challenge will be taken from snails and slugs which have evolved a unique form of slime-based locomotion that uses muscular undulations in a single 'foot' combined with an adhesive mucus to propel their bodies. This locomotor mechanism allows these animals to move precisely at very slow speeds through a wide variety of environments and this form of locomotion is of great interest in terms of both its evolutionary biology and as a model for bioinspired robotics. Our hypothesis is that the actuation, sensing, and control strategies adopted by snails can be exploited in soft robots to enable regiospecific controlled release of drug cargo, whilst withstanding the physical, chemical, and mechanical stresses within the physiological environment. This localisation approach will enhance the bioavailability of anti-cancer treatments in tumour sites and minimise off-site side effects of these toxic drugs. However, work on snail-inspired robots has been limited up to now, both because the biomechanics of snail locomotion itself is not well understood and also because there has been limited scope for either simulation or construction of such robots. Therefore, a prime goal of this project is to address these shortcomings. The project will study snail locomotion and develop models to produce snail-like simulations, including foot movements, interactions with mucus, and machine learning options for control. Snail-inspired soft robotic prototypes will be built to showcase the concepts developed through simulations and provide the essential ground-truthing. Suitable actuation and control options will be assessed for implementation using novel peptide-based soft bionanomaterials that are inspired from natural proteins, hence are bio-functional, biocompatible, and highly tuneable. Using rational molecular design, these materials will be engineered to respond to biofriendly external triggers enabling non-invasive remote control of the soft robots. The project workflow is arranged around the themes of biomechanics, bionanomaterials, robotics, digital twins, and cancer biology, with the specific objectives to: (1) study the locomotion, actuation, and control of snails through detailed experimental measurements under controlled conditions; (2) exploit recent advances in bionanomaterials to develop novel biocompatible materials for soft robots; (3) design and build functional snail-inspired soft robots suitable for drug delivery; (4) develop a multiscale digital twin simulation framework to support engineering and biological research in cancer treatment; and (5) demonstrate soft robotic prototypes that can aid the treatment of colorectal cancer. The project is significant because it will deliver detailed data on snail biomechanics that is new to science and use this to accelerate the discovery of novel robot control strategies and kinematic configurations. We will produce new bioinspired micro robotics-based devices for the controlled and precise localisation of drug cargo in malignant tissues. This innovative approach has significant impact as it will overcome some of the main limitations of the current clinically used drug delivery systems by enhancing selectivity and bioavailability and minimising off-site side effects. Furthermore, there will be broader impacts both within the biomedical field, e.g., as an alternative to techniques such as capsule endoscopy, and on future development of microrobots beyond the biomedical field, e.g., in applications from pipe inspection and cable laying to advanced agri-food and pollution control.