• bowel lengthening
• distraction enterogenesis
• robotic implant
• surgery-free

The goal of this thesis is to find an innovative engineering solution to a severe disease called Short Bowel Syndrome (SBS), which affects primarly pediatric patients. This syndrome is associated with the loss of a big portion of the small bowel leading to an inability of the patient to absorb enough nutrients and thus conduct a regular life. Although some clinical solutions exists, they are not optimal yet and can cause risky complications; for this reason, research is going towards the creation of implantable devices that induce the in-vivo regeneration of intestinal tissue through mechano-transduction (distraction enterogenesis). This work involves the design and testing of an extraluminal robotic implant that induces a controlled bowel lengthening and can be removed without surgery. The device consists in a cylindrical rod 12 cm long and with a 6.35 mm diameter, two biodegradable rings attached to it, and a cable of 8 mm diameter. The robot was tested in three 15-20 kg pigs; a smooth and functional removal procedure was successfully performed in two animals, while the third had to be prematurely euthanized. Both animals showed a slight bowel lengthening, meaning that further design improvements are needed; however, intestinal lengthening was not the focus of this study. The developed device is thus a promising solution for treating SBS patients and more research is needed in this field, in order to translate it into a clinical product in the future.