Modern Readers: Could Seahorse Tail Inform Future Medical Robot Designs?

AP The square, overlapping segments that make up the tails of seahorses – which are actually fish – are highly unusual in the animal kingdom and scientists have long speculated on the advantages they might confer on the animal.

Could the seahorse’s tail hold keys to the future of robotic surgery? “We wondered why”, said Clemson University mechanical engineer Michael Porter. The team created a 3D-printed model that mimicked the square prism of a seahorse tail and another in cylindrical shape and whacked them with a rubber mallet and twisted and bent them.

The findings of the research appeared in the most recent issue of the journal Science. He discovered the bones are composed of only 40 percent minerals, plus a surprisingly large amount of protein and other organic compounds. In addition he also found out that the connective tissues between the tail muscles and the bony plates took on most of the pressure so the vertebrae were left unharmed.

While there are several other animals (like monkeys or chameleons) that have prehensile tails, the seahorse tail is particularly strong.

The tail of the seahorse doesn’t do it any favors when swimming, but it’s also a marvel of natural engineering. Circular plates, in comparison, have two degrees of freedom, they both slide and they rotate.

Models demonstrate that a seahorse’s tail (with its flexible and square structure) can outperfor … That means in the wild, a square tail is more resilient when it suffers, say, a predator bite. This acts as an energy-absorbing mechanism which protects the vital spinal column. The square shape quite logically, allows for a more comprehensive way to grip due to the greater number of contact points. “Michael decided to use engineering and technology to explain biological features”, said McKittrick, who was Porter’s co-advisor and is a co-author on the paper.

A tail that can withstand stress is less likely to get crushed by a predatory bird’s beak.

The prototype that was square in nature could no turn very quickly.

A new study has found that seahorses have an amazingly unique design in its tail that could have big implications for how robots are designed in the future. He continued by saying that nature, on the other hand, mostly makes objects strong enough to not break easily and flexible enough to perform an array of tasks.

Seahorses might not seem the ideal animal to inspire tough new robots, but torture-testing of 3D tail models suggests the whimsical creatures may be hardier than we think.

The research team also assumes that this system could be used in a wide variety of applications like industrial use, robotic surgery and search and rescue missions.