The Unseen Barriers in Wound Care

Why Automate Healing? Our Purpose-Driven Design

Our journey began with a unique material: a temperature-sensitive gel that solidifies upon contact with skin. This property, while innovative, presented a challenge for manual application. It sparked a broader vision to address critical gaps in healthcare—supporting wound care in regions with scarce medical resources, assisting elderly individuals reluctant to leave home, and reducing the psychological stress on clinicians treating severe wounds. Our robotic arm is more than a dispenser; it's our answer for providing precise, accessible, and compassionate care to those who need it most.

L-DOPA modified hydroxybutyl chitosan hydrogel

The Challenge: High Costs Limit Access

Democratizing Technology with Low-Cost, Open-Source Solutions

To ensure technological equity, we prioritized affordability and accessibility. Our hardware is built with basic, widely available components, bringing the total cost to under $1000. We've open-sourced our designs, algorithms, and software to empower researchers everywhere.

PartQtyPrice (USD)
ESP32 Control Board125
Ro-ARM-M3 Robotic Arm1350
Motor Driver (L298N)230
Thermal Sensor (MLX90614)180
USB Camera150
Peristaltic Pumps275
TEC1-12706 Module120
Heatsink & Fan125
3D-printed parts (PLA)Various50
Power Supply (12V/24V)140
Miscellaneous (wires, tubes)-30
Total Estimated Cost~775

The Challenge: Expensive 3D Vision

Simulating Binocular Vision with a Single Camera

Instead of costly 3D cameras, we innovated a method using a single low-cost camera. By calculating image disparity from micro-movements of the robotic arm, we accurately determine the wound's spatial position, a crucial step for precise hand-eye calibration and treatment.

Diagram of the parallax vision method

The Challenge: Algorithmic Bias

Machine Learning for Inclusive Recognition

Our initial RGB-based wound recognition failed on darker skin tones. Upholding our commitment to equity, we implemented a machine learning (FCN) model. This ensures robust and accurate wound segmentation for all individuals, regardless of skin color, embodying true technological fairness.

Formulas for Intersection over Union (IoU) and mean Intersection over Union (mIoU)

The Challenge: Complexity for Users

Intuitive GUI and Safe Consumables

Command-line interfaces are impractical for our target users, such as the elderly. We developed a user-friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) for simple, one-click operation. The system also uses disposable, single-use containers to ensure sterility and ease of use.

Screenshot of the user-friendly GUI

The Challenge: Jerky, Imprecise Motion

Custom Inverse Kinematics for Smooth Control

The basic microcontroller struggled with complex calculations, leading to poor positioning and severe oscillations. We engineered our own inverse kinematics solver, tailored to the arm's geometry. This dramatically improved motion smoothness and coordinate accuracy, enabling precise treatment.

Graph showing improved motion smoothness

The Challenge: Patient Discomfort

Optimizing Path Planning for Z-Axis Stability

Feedback from clinicians highlighted that vertical (Z-axis) jitter could cause patient discomfort or even injury. We redesigned the nozzle's path from a linear to a polar-coordinate trajectory. This minimizes vertical movement, ensuring a stable and safe application process.

Diagram illustrating polar coordinate path planning for Z-axis stability

The Challenge: Expensive Lab Automation

A Low-Cost, Modular Platform for Synthetic Biology

Automated laboratory equipment is usually expensive. We have developed a series of open-source and easily disassemblable end devices for the arms, enabling them to perform tasks such as pipetting and spectrophotometric analysis. This provides a low-cost automated solution for other iGEM teams, especially those from resource-poor regions.

Modular quick-release frame with swappable tool heads for the robotic arm

The Goal: Empowering Future Innovators

Low-Cost Reproducibility Guide

If you're inspired to build upon our work, our detailed guide provides everything you need to replicate our hardware at a low cost. We created this to support teams and individuals with limited resources, ensuring our project is a starting point for others.

Our Work Doesn't Stop Here

This page provides an overview of our hardware story. For complete technical details, including our design process, experimental validation, and open-source resources, please view our detailed documentation. (View Citations)

View Detailed Design

Stay Tuned: We are committed to the continuous improvement and expansion of this modular platform in our future work.

Hardware Details

Return to top