Cutting, Puncture & Sampling

Cutting, Puncture & Sampling

Towards Brain-Computer Interfaces & Surgical Robots

From teeth and claws to quills and nails, animals have evolved cutting and piercing tools finely tuned to the material properties of tissue. But what defines sufficient sharpness? Answering this question requires scaling laws and rigorous models of fracture nucleation and propagation in nonlinear, compliant materials under severe contact.

Our group develops this foundation through theory, computation, and experiment. We have shown how microneedle arrays benefit from the bed-of-nails effect, where spacing and proximity govern tissue penetration. We have also introduced a framework for hyperelastic characterization via deep indentation, connecting indentation response to tissue properties beyond classical elasticity. These insights are directly relevant for surgical robotics, where precise force control avoids tissue damage, and for medical diagnostics, where minimally invasive sampling depends on reliable puncture mechanics.

Looking ahead, the same mechanics underpin the development of brain–computer interfaces (BCI), where electrode insertion must balance minimal invasiveness with robust signal acquisition. By advancing the mechanics of puncture and cutting, this research bridges biology and engineering, enabling safer, sharper, and more reliable biomedical technologies.

This work was initially funded by the Human Frontiers in Science Program and continues to expand through multiple funding sources.