Look at the chewing robot: its jaws are made for drug testing

The purpose of the University of Bristol study was to find out if a humanoid chewing robot could

evaluate the quality of medicinal chewablerubber bands. The robot is capable of reproducing human-like chewing movements. It has artificial saliva and allows you to measure the release of xylitol (polyhydric alcohol, used as a sweetener).

The study wanted to compare the number ofxylitol remaining in chewing gum after testing on a chewing robot and humans. The expert group also wanted to estimate the amount of xylitol released from the chewing gum.

Scientists have discovered that a chewing robotdemonstrated the same xylitol release rate as the human subjects. The greatest release of xylitol occurred during the first five minutes of chewing, and after 20 minutes of chewing, only a small amount of xylitol remained, regardless of the chewing method used.

Close-up of a humanoid chewing robot. Credit: Dr. Kazem Alemzade, University of Bristol

Saliva and artificial saliva solutions were respectively collected after five, ten, 15 and 20 minutes of continuous chewing, and the amount of xylitol released from the chewing gum was determined.

Research by scientists has shown that the new robotgives pharmaceutical companies the opportunity to research medicinal chewing gum. At the same time, the impact on the patient is reduced, and this method is also less expensive.

The study authors emphasize: the most convenient way of administering drugs to patients is by oral delivery methods. An experiment using a new humanoid environment could revolutionize the oral release and delivery of drugs to the human body.

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