초록 |
Recently, ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) have been highlighted as one of the electro-active actuators for biomedical applications. However, the beam-type (traditional) IPMC has only one-directional bending freedom, according as the definite limitation for the steerable catheter. In this study, we developed the rod-/tube-type Nafion and IPMC actuator by a heat-compression process, which have multi-directional bending and the proper actuation capability for the active micro-catheter. We observed that their performance could be controlled by their cross-sectional dimensions related to bending stiffness. |