Design and Prototype an artificial urethra

The human urethra is a complex tubular organ that allows to empty urine from the urinary bladder. Due to its hyperelastic properties and heterogeneous composition, the design of an artificial urethra (AU) is a real engineering challenge. Within the Center for Artificial Muscles (CAM)-EPFL, we are studying the capability to design a new kind of artificial urethra that would have properties similar to the human one. The goal of this project is to investigate existing solution, to design an AU and to perform tests on pig urethras (similar to human urethra) in order to define its properties (physical, mechanical, biological). Moreover, find suitable materials and manufacturing processes to design an AU . If time, design a prototype of an AU and validate it thanks to experimental tests.