Human Cells Bioengineered To Make Self-Healing Skin Designed To Coat Surfaces, Cover Robot Faces

A team of Japanese researchers has created a unique humanoid robot which possesses a face made out of living human skin tissue.

Robot Face With Living Skin Tissue

In sci-fi movies, humanoid robots are so human-like that it is almost impossible to distinguish them from a real person. Japanese scientists are currently on their way to developing real-life versions of these realistic machines.

Experts from the University of Tokyo have produced a robotic face using bioengineered human skin. The details of their experiment are discussed in the paper "Perforation-type anchors inspired by skin ligament for a robotic face covered with living skin."

The research was led by Professor Shoji Takeuchi whose laboratory has already created mini robots that can walk using biological muscle tissue. It has also produced a 3D printed laboratory-grown meat and engineered skin which can heal by itself.

The bioengineered skin tissue was made by taking a sample of human skin cells and growing them in the laboratory, similar to how cultured meat is made. The human skin cells were also harvested from excess skin obtained during surgeries, according to study co-author Michio Kawai from Harvard University.

Cultured skin has almost the same composition as human skin and is also used as a graft for people who have encountered severe burns or injuries. The way the engineered skin tissue adheres to the underlying complex structure of the humanoid robot was inspired by skin ligaments in actual human tissues.

Engineering living skin from cell cultures is already challenging on its own. However, the trickiest part was to get the engineered skin to attach to the surface of a robotic face which is composed of acrylic-based resin.

Scientists used to utilize mini anchors or hooks, but these materials limit the types of surfaces that can receive the skin coatings, potentially damaging the material during movement. Instead, the research team used a special collagen gel for adhesion and created special perforations in the robot's face to help the skin layer take hold. The small perforations allowed any surface shape to be coated with skin.

Advantages of Skin-Coated Robots

To some extent, Takeuchi and colleagues were able to replicate human appearance by developing a face with the same surface material and structure as humans. The team believes that the living-engineered skin can provide the robots with a range of new capabilities.

According to the researchers, robots with real skin not only have a greater lifelike appearance, but they could also heal themselves if damaged. Additionally, robots with human skin on their face are embedded with remarkable sensing capabilities.

In this study, the researchers were able to introduce an approach for adhering and actuating skin equivalents with perforation-type anchors. This has the potential to contribute to advancements in biohybrid robotics.

Self-healing materials typically require heat or pressure to trigger adhesion at cut surfaces. On the other hand, skin equivalents have the ability to regenerate defects without any triggers through cellular proliferation.

In the future, the research team plans to create a range of human-like expressions by integrating the interior of a robot with complex actuators that resemble human muscle.