Vine Soft Robot Intubation

I am doing research on tracheal intubation with vine-like soft body robots in Hawkes Lab at UC Santa Barbara. Inspired by the meandering nature of plants. Scholars develop soft body robots that grow on themselves to achieve search and rescue, deliver, and even fire extinguishing tasks through extreme environmental conditions.

My research aims to develop soft robots that grow into human trachea. Tracheal intubation helps the patient to breathe in cases of respiratory failure and shock. The traditional intubation has a low success rate because it is hard to perform even with specialized training. The complexity of the human upper airway anatomy hinders the endotracheal tube to be placed precisely into the trachea. When saving lives, every second matters. With this soft robot we are developing, tracheal intubation can be accomplished in a much faster speed with a higher success rate. Operating the robot requires only minimal experience and human effort. This technique is revolutionary and lifesaving.