How to build a better health system: 8 expert essays

Wegovy Users Drop $80,000 On Plastic Surgery To Shed Extra Skin

Your browser is not supporteddetroitnews.Com

detroitnews.Com wants to ensure the best experience for all of our readers, so we built our site to take advantage of the latest technology, making it faster and easier to use.

Unfortunately, your browser is not supported. Please download one of these browsers for the best experience on detroitnews.Com

A Robot Gets A Face Of Living 'skin' That Allows It To Smile

If humanoid robots make you a bit queasy — would it help if they had fleshy faces that can smile at you?

The uncanny feat is the result of new technology using engineered living skin tissue and human-like ligaments to give robots a more natural smile, according to Tokyo University researchers who unveiled their work this week.

"In this study, we managed to replicate human appearance to some extent by creating a face with the same surface material and structure as humans," professor Shoji Takeuchi, the team leader, said in a news release. In the process, he added, "we identified new challenges, such as the necessity for surface wrinkles and a thicker epidermis to achieve a more humanlike appearance."

The approach promises to make robots more lifelike — and in the future, the researchers say, similar techniques could also be used on humans, in the cosmetics and plastic surgery industries. Their findings were published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science.

Takeuchi et al. CC-BY-ND /

A new method of binding living skin tissue to a robotic skeleton will allow more humanlike expressions and better range of motion, according to researchers from the University of Tokyo.

To overlay and connect the lab-produced skin on a robotic skeleton, a layer of collagen gel containing cultured human dermal fibroblasts (a type of connective tissue cell) binds to an innovative system of tiny V-shaped perforations in the surface, letting the skin move with the underlying structure without tearing or peeling. The work of muscles — creating a smile, and other motions — is done by actuators.

Takeuchi's Biohybrid Systems Laboratory has previously engineered skin that can heal, created small robots with biological muscle tissue, and 3D printed lab-grown meat. He says the latest work on living skin has a string of potential next steps.

"Self-healing is a big deal — some chemical-based materials can be made to heal themselves, but they require triggers such as heat, pressure or other signals, and they also do not proliferate like cells," he said. "Biological skin repairs minor lacerations as ours does, and nerves and other skin organs can be added for use in sensing and so on."

It's critical for robots to have the ability to heal and self-repair, the researchers said in their study, because even small scratches could develop into serious impairments.

Biomimetic robots could also become even more realistic with thicker skin, Takeuchi said, adding that future projects could look to add sensors, pores and even sweat glands and fat. The team's paper says their work could also bring insights into how humans' wrinkles are formed. And by incorporating more sophisticated actuators and eventually, cultured muscle tissue, their approach could help robots in the future move in fluid, humanlike ways.

For now, the robot can't feel its face, putting it in a category pioneered by Abel Tesfaye, a.K.A. The Weeknd. Not long ago, many of us smiled when technology managed to put the singer's words about his face into the mouth of a U.S. President.

Copyright 2024 NPR

Karolina Muchova Is Back At Wimbledon Without The Old Expectations After Wrist Surgery

WIMBLEDON, England — Karolina Muchova was sure she would be back on the tennis tour, and back at a Grand Slam tournament, at some point, no matter how long it might take after an operation on her right wrist. Well, mostly sure.

Except, naturally, when at times over the 10 months away, the doubts she was trying to ignore would creep in to the subconscious of someone who in 2023 was the French Open runner-up to Iga Swiatek and made it to the semifinals of the U.S. Open before losing to eventual champion Coco Gauff in New York in a match interrupted by a climate protest.

"Of course it was in my head a little bit. You don't know, right? Whatever surgery it is, you never know what's going to happen. Will you ever play again or not?" Muchova said in an interview at Wimbledon, where she is scheduled to face Paula Badosa on Court 17 in the first round Monday in a matchup between two women who both have been ranked in the WTA's top 10. "So I was trying not to think about it, but somewhere deep in my head, it was there."

Muchova is a 27-year-old from the Czech Republic who was in the midst of the best season of her career when she injured her racket-wielding arm. She wore a black sleeve on it during her match against Gauff on Sept. 7, reached that career-high ranking four days later and then did not play another match until last week's grass-court tuneup event at Eastbourne.

Surgery — her first as a pro, Muchova said — came in February. She didn't pick up a racket again until about two months ago.

"A wrist, for a tennis player, is a fragile thing. So I was, for sure, a little worried about it," Muchova said. "You just have to trust the surgeon."

All in all, it was a rather dispiriting process for a player with a variety-filled, all-court game who reached the Australian Open semifinals in 2021 and was a quarterfinalist at the All England Club in 2019 and 2021, before last year's successes.

"I always liked how she plays. I think she can play great tennis on all surfaces, with her pretty clean technique and being able to play topspin but slice, as well. Really mix up the rhythm sometimes on the court. So it's nice that she's back," said Swiatek, a five-time major champion who is the No. 1 seed at Wimbledon. "I just hope she's going to be healthy, because she seems like a player that is really enjoying herself on the court. When she's ... Pain-free and injury-free, she can really play great tennis."

Muchova wound up withdrawing before the quarterfinals in Eastbourne because her wrist felt stiff after a victory there; her doctor advised her to rest. But after a few days off, Muchova said she was doing OK and planned to play against Badosa.

Here's what's different now for Muchova: She does not feel even a bit of pressure to perform. Not right away, anyway.

"My mindset is, for sure: Now I have zero expectations. I'm really happy to be part of the tour again," Muchova said. "I think I can get back up to my level. I still feel I can be even better than I was before. You can always learn, even from bad things like injury or surgery. I'm hoping to come back as a better player. But I cannot just jump right back in where I was 10 months (ago). I have to take it slowly and be easy on myself."

Howard Fendrich has been the AP's tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.Com/author/howard-fendrich

---