Toward a More Realistic 3D Biomimetic Soft Robotic Tongue to Investigate Oral Processing of Semi-solid Foods.

The current in vitro experiments reproducing food oral processing are not fully representative of the oral anatomy and of the biomechanics of the human tongue. Creating an in vitro device imitating the intricate interfacial and mechanical features, as well as the combination of motions of the human tongue, is critical to gain a quantitative understanding of how fluids and foods interact with oral surfaces. We present here a unique pneumatic three-dimensional multi-degree-of-freedom soft robotic actuator – the Biomimetic Soft Robotic Tongue (BSRT) – that embodies the mechanical performance and wettability of the human tongue, with realistic movements, and the surface roughness of the human tongue papillae. The present study presents a promising technology that can be used to realistically simulate the bolus dynamics in a variety of individual conditions, paving the way to design personalized food products meeting individual needs.