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A visit to the dentist usually involves long and sometimes unpleasant scraping with mechanical tools to remove plaque. What if, instead, a dentist could deploy a small army of tiny robots to eliminate this build-up accurately and non-invasively?
A team of engineers, dentists and biologists from the University of Pennsylvania has developed a microscopic robotic cleaning team. With two types of robotic systems – one designed to work on surfaces and the other to work in confined spaces – scientists have shown that catalytically active robots can effectively destroy biofilms, sticky mergers of bacteria entangled in a protective scaffolding. Such robotic systems for biofilm removal could be useful in a wide range of potential applications, ranging from clean water lines and catheters to reducing the risk of tooth decay, and reducing the risk of tooth decay. Endodontic infections and implant contamination.
The work, published in Robotic science, was directed by Hyun (Michel) Koo of the School of Dentistry and Edward Steager of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
"It was a truly synergistic and multidisciplinary interaction," Koo said. "We rely on the expertise of microbiologists and clinical scientists, as well as engineers, to design the best possible microbial eradication system." This is important for other biomedical fields faced with resistant biofilms to drugs as we approach the post-antibiotic era. "
"Treating the biofilms that occur on the teeth requires a lot of manual work, both from the consumer and the professional," says Steager. "We hope to improve treatment options and reduce the difficulty of care."
Biofilms can appear on biological surfaces, such as teeth or joints, or on objects, such as water pipes, implants or catheters. Wherever biofilms are formed, they are notoriously difficult to eliminate because the sticky matrix that contains the bacteria provides protection against antimicrobial agents.
In earlier work, Koo and his colleagues managed to break down the biofilm matrix with a variety of innovative methods. One strategy has been to use nanoparticles containing iron oxide that act catalytically, activating hydrogen peroxide to release free radicals capable of killing bacteria and destroying biofilms in a targeted manner.
Fortunately, the Penn Dental Team discovered that Penn Engineering groups led by Steager, Vijay Kumar and Kathleen Stebe were working with a robotic platform using very similar iron oxide nanoparticles as building blocks. microbots. Engineers control the movement of these robots using a magnetic field, allowing them to run without attachment.
Together, the inter-school team has designed, optimized and tested two types of robotic systems, which the group calls catalytic antimicrobial robots, or CARs, capable of degrading and eliminating biofilms. The first is to suspend nanoparticles of iron oxide in a solution, which can then be directed by magnets to remove biofilms on a surface, in the manner of a plow. The second platform consists of incorporating nanoparticles into three-dimensional gel molds. These were used to target and destroy the biofilms obstructing the included tubes.
Both types of DACs have effectively killed bacteria, broken down the matrix around them, and eliminated debris with great accuracy. After testing the robots on biofilms growing either on a flat glass surface or on closed glass tubes, the researchers tested a more clinically relevant application: removing the biofilm from hard-to-reach parts. a human tooth.
The CARs have been able to degrade and eliminate bacterial biofilms not only from the surface of a tooth, but from one of the most difficult parts of a tooth 's access, the l? isthmus, a narrow corridor between the root canals where biofilms usually develop.
"Existing treatments for biofilms are ineffective because they are unable to simultaneously degrade the protective matrix, kill the embedded bacteria, and physically remove the biodegraded products," says Koo. "These robots can do all three at the same time very efficiently, leaving no trace of biofilm."
According to Koo, by eliminating the degraded remains of the biofilm, his chances of rooting and repelling diminish considerably. The researchers plan to precisely direct these robots where they need to go to remove biofilms, whether inside a catheter, from a water pipe or from a water pipe. a tooth surface difficult to reach.
"We view robots as automated systems that take action based on actively gathered information," said Steager. In this case, he says, "the movement of the robot can be informed by biofilm images collected from microcameras or other modes of medical imaging".
To advance innovation toward clinical application, researchers are receiving support from Penn's Center for Health, Devices and Technology, an initiative supported by Penn's Penn School of Medicine, Penn Engineering, and by the Office. Vice President of Research. . Penn Health-Tech, as it's called, awards support to selected interdisciplinary groups for the creation of new health technologies, and the robotic platform project was one of those that received support in 2018.
"The team has great clinical experience on the dental side and excellent technical experience on the engineering side," said Victoria Berenholz, executive director of Penn Health-Tech. "We are here to finalize them on the business side, they have really done a fantastic job on the project."
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Besides Koo, Steager, Stebe and Kumar, the study was co-created by first author Geelsu Hwang, Amauri J. Paula, Yuan Liu, Alaa Babeer and Bekir Karabucak, all from the School of Dentistry , and Elizabeth E. Hunter. of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
The study was funded in part by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (grants DE025848 and DE018023) and the National Science Foundation.
Hyun (Michel) Koo is a professor in the Department of Dental Orthodontics at Penn and the Division of Pediatric Dentistry and Community Oral Health.
Edward Steager is a researcher at the Laboratory of General Robotics, Automation, Detection and Perception (GRASP Laboratory) of the Faculty of Applied and Applied Sciences.
Vijay Kumar is the Dean of the Nemirovsky Family at Penn Engineering and has held positions in the Mechanical and Applied Mechanical Engineering, Computer and Information Science, and Electrical and System Engineering Departments.
Kathleen Stebe is Professor Richer and Elizabeth Goodwin of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science.
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