{"id":2298,"date":"2025-01-12T23:30:02","date_gmt":"2025-01-13T04:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golive.clarku.edu\/?p=2298"},"modified":"2025-04-18T13:54:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T17:54:18","slug":"will-robot-worms-heal-what-ails-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/will-robot-worms-heal-what-ails-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Will robot worms heal what ails you?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Working in the laboratory of Physics Professor Arshad Kudrolli, Ph.D. candidate Sohum Kapadia conducts experiments detailing how California blackworms move through water-filled spaces of various shapes and strictures. The research is expected to one day inform the development of \u201csoft robots\u201d that could worm their way through digestive tracts and other complex \u201cterrains\u201d within the human body.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Worms<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cWe are trying to understand how organisms and robots move through media which are not quite liquid or solid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soft robots might also assist with the diagnoses of illness, the delivery of medicines and other treatments, and the development of more efficient surgical techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Observing the biolocomotion patterns of worms is central to Kudrolli\u2019s research, which lies at the nexus of biology, physics, and technology. With a core of student researchers, \u201cWe are trying to understand how organisms and robots move through media which are not quite liquid or solid,\u201d Kudrolli<\/a> said when the experimentation began several years ago. In his lab, conditions are created to approximate sand and water, clay, sludge, and even fluids in the human body, which he describes as \u201ca giant hydrogel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most recent round of experiments, led by Kapadia, entails the movements of worms through water to observe the creatures\u2019 behavior when they are met with an obstruction to their forward progress, such as a 90-degree corner in a square tank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kudrolli recently received a $330,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for the development of soft robots that could one day revolutionize the ways that emerging technologies influence biomedical science.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Department of Physics<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Physics Professor Arshad Kudrolli and Ph.D. candidate Sohum Kapadia conduct experiments detailing how California blackworms move through water-filled spaces. The research is expected to inform the development of soft robots that could navigate the complext \u201cterrains\u201d of the human body.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":2299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"research-initiaive","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[58],"class_list":["post-2298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-highlights","tag-department-of-physics"],"yoast_head":"\nWill robot worms heal what ails you? | Clark University | Clark University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/will-robot-worms-heal-what-ails-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Will robot worms heal what ails you?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Physics Professor Arshad Kudrolli and Ph.D. candidate Sohum Kapadia conduct experiments detailing how California blackworms move through water-filled spaces. 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