{"id":208,"date":"2022-04-04T22:23:55","date_gmt":"2022-04-04T13:23:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umeshinlab.wordpress.com\/?page_id=208"},"modified":"2026-08-12T07:40:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T07:40:54","slug":"cyborg-insects","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/umeshin.mmech.waseda.ac.jp\/index.php\/cyborg-insects\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyborg Insects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Cyborg insects are created by integrating tiny electronic components or devices into the bodies of living insects, like beetles or moths, to harness their natural capabilities for various purposes. This process involves surgically implanting microelectronic systems onto or inside the insect, allowing researchers to control its movements, monitor its physiology, or utilize its senses. By interfacing with the insect&#8217;s nervous system or muscles, these cyborg insects can be directed remotely, enabling them to navigate specific environments or perform tasks that benefit fields such as surveillance, environmental monitoring, or search and rescue missions. The integration of electronics with living organisms provides a unique platform for creating low-cost, adaptable, and highly mobile systems that can access complex or hazardous terrains, which might be challenging for traditional robots or sensors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">These bio-hybrid systems capitalize on the insect&#8217;s natural abilities, such as their agility, resilience, and small size, while the added electronic components expand their functionalities. For instance, cyborg insects equipped with sensors can detect environmental changes like gas leaks or pollutants, while those with miniature cameras can provide real-time visual data from remote or inaccessible locations. Although still in the experimental stage, ongoing research aims to refine these bio-cybernetic interfaces, improving control, reducing the size of electronic components, and exploring ethical considerations regarding the treatment of living organisms for technological purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-videopress\"><video height=\"720\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1280 \/ 720;\" width=\"1280\" src=\"https:\/\/new.umeshin.mmech.waseda.ac.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/1-s_move_1_insect_230823_3_1_1.mp4\"><\/video><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Cyborg insect maneuvering using bluetooth device.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-huge-font-size\">Repository<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-026-74235-1\">1. Underwater Suit-Wearing Cyborg Insect Capable of Hours-Long Diving and Terra-Aqua Travel<\/a><br>Published: June 29, 2026 | <em>Nature Communications<\/em>, Vol. 17, Art. 5398<br>Authors: Zifu Fan, Kazuki Kai, Kewei Song, Duc Long Le, Thu Ha Tran, Mingyu Hao, Wei Yang Wan, Shinjiro Umezu, Hirotaka Sato<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The team built a wearable &#8220;diving suit&#8221; for cyborg cockroaches, combining a miniaturized chemical oxygen generator with a flexible waterproof shell that seals off the insect&#8217;s spiracles. This let a terrestrial cockroach survive and move underwater for up to three hours (versus ~2 minutes unprotected), while retaining remote-controlled walking and turning. A fully implanted electronics variant let the cyborg squeeze through 2-cm crevices. Tested in a simulated disaster tunnel combining flooded and low-oxygen zones, the system establishes the first amphibious cyborg insect, aimed at search-and-rescue in flooded or hazardous rubble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41528-025-00387-7\">2. Locomotion Control of Cyborg Insects by Using Ultra-Thin, Self-Adhesive Electrode Film on Abdominal Surface<\/a><\/strong><br>Published: March 13, 2025 | <em>npj Flexible Electronics<\/em>, Vol. 9, Art. 25<br>Authors: Shumpei Katayama, Keigo Ando, Sunghoon Lee, Zhi Jiang, Xiaodong Chen, Tomoyuki Yokota, Hirotaka Sato, Shinjiro Umezu, Kenjiro Fukuda, Takao Someya<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Conventional cyborg control stimulates antennae or cerci, risking sensory damage. This study instead applies an ultra-thin, self-adhesive electrode film to the cockroach&#8217;s abdomen, avoiding primary sensory organs. Liquid-evaporation lamination gives strong, biocompatible adhesion that tolerates natural abdominal deformation during movement, showing higher stability than prior film electrodes. The abdominal electrodes enabled reliable control of both straight walking and turning, offering a less invasive alternative for directing cyborg insect locomotion in field applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2502.16088\">3. Electrophysiological Investigation of Insect Pain Threshold<\/a><\/strong><br>Submitted: February 22, 2025 | arXiv:2502.16088<br>Authors: Marc Josep Montagut Marques, Minghao Pan, Ryuichi Okada, Midori Sakura, Kayo Hirose, Shinjiro Umezu<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Using crickets, this study explores whether insects experience pain by applying graded mechanical, chemical, thermal, and electrical stimuli while recording heart rate (ECG) and brain activity (EEG). An AlexNet-based deep-learning classifier distinguished resting, low-pain, and high-pain EEG states with ~90% accuracy. Heart rate and EEG both changed significantly with stimulus intensity, supporting insect nociception, though no evidence of social pain-sharing via ECG was found. Findings are relevant to designing more humane stimulation protocols for cyborg insects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s44182-024-00009-w\">4. Cyborg Insect Repeatable Self-Righting Locomotion Assistance Using Bio-Inspired 3D Printed Artificial Limb<\/a><\/strong><br>Published: May 27, 2024 | <em>npj Robotics<\/em>, Vol. 2, Art. 3<br>Authors: Marc Josep Montagut Marques, Yuxuan Qin, Hirotaka Sato, Shinjiro Umezu<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Electronic backpacks on cyborg insects can impair their natural ability to self-right after falling, a serious risk in unpredictable field missions. This study adds a 3D-printed artificial limb, inspired by the self-righting motion of ladybird beetles, to the backpack of a Madagascar hissing cockroach. Driven by miniature low-voltage actuators, the limb allows repeatable self-righting rather than a single recovery attempt, improving mechanical resilience for long-duration cyborg insect deployments in unstructured rescue environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstage.jst.go.jp\/article\/jsapmeeting\/2023.1\/0\/2023.1_1765\/_pdf\">5. \u6606\u866b\u306e\u884c\u52d5\u81ea\u7531\u5ea6\u3092\u640d\u306a\u308f\u306a\u3044\u8584\u819c\u30a8\u30ec\u30af\u30c8\u30ed\u30cb\u30af\u30b9\u5b9f\u88c5\u8a2d\u8a08\u8ad6\u78ba\u7acb<\/a><\/strong><br>Presented: March 15\u201318, 2023 | \u7b2c70\u56de\u5fdc\u7528\u7269\u7406\u5b66\u4f1a\u6625\u5b63\u5b66\u8853\u8b1b\u6f14\u4f1a (70th JSAP Spring Meeting), Sophia University + online, Presentation No. 15p-B409-11<br>Authors: Shumpei Katayama, Yujiro Kakei, Masahito Takakuwa, Shinyoung Lee, Kazuya Furusawa, Hirotaka Sato, Shinjiro Umezu, Kenjiro Fukuda<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This presentation establishes design principles for mounting ultrathin, lightweight thin-film electronics on insects without restricting their natural locomotor freedom. It systematizes how electrode placement, film thickness, and adhesive-interface design interact with an insect&#8217;s flexing exoskeleton during walking and other movement, building directly on the group&#8217;s abdominal electrode film and body-mounted solar module work. As a conference proceeding rather than a peer-reviewed journal paper, full quantitative results are not independently verifiable from public sources, but the work underlies the lab&#8217;s broader effort toward minimally invasive cyborg insect bioelectronics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstage.jst.go.jp\/article\/oubutsu\/93\/11\/93_652\/_pdf\/-char\/ja\">6. \u8d85\u8584\u578b\u6709\u6a5f\u592a\u967d\u96fb\u6c60\u3092\u5229\u7528\u3057\u305f\u518d\u5145\u96fb\u53ef\u80fd\u306a\u30b5\u30a4\u30dc\u30fc\u30b0\u6606\u866b<\/a><\/strong><br>Presented: March 15\u201318, 2023 | \u7b2c70\u56de\u5fdc\u7528\u7269\u7406\u5b66\u4f1a\u6625\u5b63\u5b66\u8853\u8b1b\u6f14\u4f1a (70th JSAP Spring Meeting), Sophia University + online<br>Authors: Kenjiro Fukuda, Yujiro Kakei, Shumpei Katayama, Shinyoung Lee, Masahito Takakuwa, Kazuya Furusawa, Shinjiro Umezu, Hirotaka Sato, Takao Someya<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Follow-on work extending the group&#8217;s published 2022 <em>npj Flexible Electronics<\/em> result on body-mounted organic solar cells (~17 mW output) that recharge a cyborg cockroach&#8217;s onboard battery without impairing mobility. This presentation reports further development of the ultrathin, flexible photovoltaic module mounted on the insect&#8217;s abdomen, moving toward longer-duration, self-sustaining power for cyborg insects and reducing reliance on manual battery replacement in field deployments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41528-022-00207-2\">7. Integration of Body-Mounted Ultrasoft Organic Solar Cell on Cyborg Insects with Intact Mobility<\/a><\/strong><br>Published: September 5, 2022 | <em>npj Flexible Electronics<\/em>, Vol. 6, Art. 78<br>Authors: Yujiro Kakei, Shumpei Katayama, Shinyoung Lee, Masahito Takakuwa, Kazuya Furusawa, Shinjiro Umezu, Hirotaka Sato, Kenjiro Fukuda, Takao Someya<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An ultrasoft organic solar module was integrated onto a cyborg cockroach using a hybrid design: rigid components on the thorax (via 3D-printed backpack), flexible components on the deformable abdomen, joined by an adhesive\u2013nonadhesive interleaving structure. The insect retained normal traversal and self-righting behavior while carrying the module, which output 17.2 mW \u2014 well above the threshold for wireless locomotion control \u2014 enabling the first demonstration of a self-recharging cyborg insect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstage.jst.go.jp\/article\/jsapmeeting\/2022.2\/0\/2022.2_2350\/_article\/-char\/ja\/\">8. \u8d85\u8584\u578b\u9ad8\u5206\u5b50\u57fa\u677f\u4e0a\u96fb\u6975\u3092\u7528\u3044\u305f\u30b5\u30a4\u30dc\u30fc\u30b0\u6606\u866b\u306e\u96fb\u6c17\u523a\u6fc0\u6280\u8853<\/a><\/strong><br>Presented: September 20\u201323, 2022 | \u7b2c83\u56de\u5fdc\u7528\u7269\u7406\u5b66\u4f1a\u79cb\u5b63\u5b66\u8853\u8b1b\u6f14\u4f1a (83rd JSAP Autumn Meeting), Tohoku University, Presentation No. 22a-C105-3 (abstract published August 26, 2022)<br>Authors: Shumpei Katayama, Kenjiro Fukuda, Tomoyuki Yokota, Shinjiro Umezu, Takao Someya<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Early-stage report on electrical stimulation electrodes built on ultrathin polymer substrates for cyborg insect control, a precursor to the group&#8217;s later peer-reviewed 2025 abdominal electrode paper. It examines how substrate flexibility and mounting affect stimulation reliability, continuing the lab&#8217;s shift from rigid implanted electrodes toward flexible surface-mounted alternatives for less invasive locomotion control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/jglobal.jst.go.jp\/public\/202202289026974386\">9. \u30ea\u30c1\u30a6\u30e0\u30dd\u30ea\u30de\u30fc\u30d0\u30c3\u30c6\u30ea\u306b\u5145\u96fb\u53ef\u80fd\u306a\u8d85\u8584\u578b\u592a\u967d\u96fb\u6c60\u30e2\u30b8\u30e5\u30fc\u30eb\u4f5c\u88fd<\/a><\/strong><br>Presented: September 2021 | \u7b2c82\u56de\u5fdc\u7528\u7269\u7406\u5b66\u4f1a\u79cb\u5b63\u5b66\u8853\u8b1b\u6f14\u4f1a (82nd JSAP Autumn Meeting), online (program dates Sept 10\u201313 &amp; 21\u201323, 2021 <br>Authors: Yujiro Kakei, Shumpei Katayama, Kenjiro Fukuda, Takao Someya, Hirotaka Sato, Shinjiro Umezu<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Foundational fabrication work on an ultrathin organic solar module designed to charge a lithium polymer battery, prior to its later integration onto a living cockroach. This presentation represents an intermediate milestone en route to the group&#8217;s 2022 published cyborg insect solar-charging demonstration, establishing the module&#8217;s basic photovoltaic and charging performance before insect-body integration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.1088\/1748-3190\/abe138\">10. Remote Radio Control of Insect Flight Reveals Why Beetles Lift Their Legs in Flight While Other Insects Tightly Fold<\/a><\/strong><br>Published: March 24, 2021 | <em>Bioinspiration &amp; Biomimetics<\/em>, Vol. 16, No. 3, Art. 036001<br>Authors: Takumi Kosaka, Jia Hui Gan, Le Duc Long, Shinjiro Umezu, Hirotaka Sato<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anatomical dissection revealed a physical link between beetle midlegs and elytra. Using a wireless remote-stimulation backpack on free-flying beetles, the team showed that lowering the midlegs specifically dampens and often halts wingbeat, while other legs had no such effect \u2014 explaining why beetles extend rather than fold their legs in flight. The radio-controlled stimulation backpack developed here became a direct hardware precursor to the group&#8217;s later cyborg insect control systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cyborg insects are created by integrating tiny electronic components or devices into the bodies of living insects, like beetles or moths, to harness their natural capabilities for various purposes. This process involves surgically implanting microelectronic systems onto or inside the insect, allowing researchers to control its movements, monitor its physiology, or utilize its senses. By [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-208","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umeshin.mmech.waseda.ac.jp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umeshin.mmech.waseda.ac.jp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umeshin.mmech.waseda.ac.jp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umeshin.mmech.waseda.ac.jp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umeshin.mmech.waseda.ac.jp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/umeshin.mmech.waseda.ac.jp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1459,"href":"https:\/\/umeshin.mmech.waseda.ac.jp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/208\/revisions\/1459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umeshin.mmech.waseda.ac.jp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}