Updated on 2025/01/09

写真a

 
MORIMOTO, Yuya
 
Affiliation
Faculty of Science and Engineering, School of Fundamental Science and Engineering
Job title
Associate Professor
Degree
博士(情報理工学) ( 東京大学 )

Research Experience

  • 2023.04
    -
    Now

    Waseda University   Faculty of Science and Engineering   Associate Professor

  • 2019.04
    -
    2023.03

    The University of Tokyo

  • 2014.04
    -
    2019.03

    The University of Tokyo   Institute of Industrial Science

  • 2014.06
    -
    2016.03

    科学技術振興機構   ERATO竹内バイオ融合プロジェクト   研究総括補佐・グループリーダー

  • 2009.04
    -
    2011.03

    富士フイルム株式会社   メディカルシステム開発センター

Education Background

  • 2011.04
    -
    2014.03

    東京大学大学院   情報理工学系研究科   知能機械情報学専攻 博士課程  

  • 2007.04
    -
    2009.03

    東京大学大学院   情報理工学系研究科   知能機械情報学専攻 修士課程  

Committee Memberships

  • 2023.04
    -
    Now

    日本機械学会 マイクロナノ工学部門  部門幹事

  • 2021.10
    -
    Now

    日本機械学会 マイクロナノ工学部門 未来のセンサに関する研究会  幹事

  • 2021.10
    -
    Now

    電気学会 E部門BMS技術委員会 未来のセンサ調査専門委員会  幹事補佐

  • 2020.04
    -
    Now

    電気学会 センサ・マイクロマシン部門大会 「センサ・マイクロマシンと応用システムシンポジウム」  論文委員

  • 2020.04
    -
    Now

    電気学会 デジタル・バイオ融合調査専門委員会  委員

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Research Areas

  • Nano/micro-systems / Mechanics and mechatronics / Robotics and intelligent system

Research Interests

  • マイクロ流体

  • マイクロ・ナノデバイス

  • 再生医療

  • 組織工学

Awards

  • 船井情報科学振興財団 船井学術賞

    2022.05  

  • 日本機械学会 日本機械学会論文賞

    2022.04  

  • 令和3年度文部科学大臣表彰 若手科学者賞

    2021.04  

  • Young Researcher Poster Award

    2020.10   The 24th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Science (MicroTAS2020)  

    Winner: Byeongwook Cho, Yuya Morimoto, Shoji Takeuchi

  • 新分野開拓表彰

    2020.10   日本機械学会マイクロ・ナノ工学部門  

    Winner: 森本雄矢

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Papers

  • Dynamic and Static Workout of In Vitro Skeletal Muscle Tissue through a Weight Training Device

    Byeongwook Jo, Kentaro Motoi, Yuya Morimoto, Shoji Takeuchi

    Advanced Healthcare Materials    2024.08

     View Summary

    Abstract

    Enhancing muscle strength through workouts is a key factor in improving physical activity and maintaining metabolic profiles. The controversial results concerning the impacts of weight training often arise from clinical experiments that require controlled experimental conditions. In this study, a weight training system for a muscle development model is presented, which is capable of performing weight training motions with adjustable weight loads. Through the implementation of cultured skeletal muscle tissue with floating structures and a flexible ribbon, both isotonic (dynamic change in muscle length) and isometric (static in muscle length) exercises can be performed without the deflection of the tissue. Quantitative analysis of contraction force, changes in metabolic processes, and muscle morphology under different weight training conditions demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed system. Our proposed system holds potential for establishing effective muscle development and for further applications in rehabilitation training methods.

    DOI

    Scopus

  • Harnessing the Propulsive Force of Microalgae with Microtrap to Drive Micromachines

    Haruka Oda, Naoto Shimizu, Yuya Morimoto, Shoji Takeuchi

    Small    2024.07

     View Summary

    Abstract

    Microorganisms possess remarkable locomotion abilities, making them potential candidates for micromachine propulsion. Here, the use of Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii (CR) is explored, a motile green alga, as a micromotor by harnessing its propulsive force with microtraps. The objectives include developing the microtrap structure, evaluating trapping efficiency, and investigating the movement dynamics of biohybrid micromachines driven by CR. Experimental analysis demonstrates that trap design significantly influences trapping efficiency, with a specific trap configuration (multi‐ring structure with diameters of 7 µm – 10 µm – 13 µm) showing the highest effectiveness. The micromachine empowered with two CRs facing the same direction exhibits complex, random‐like motion with yaw, pitch, and roll movements, while the micromachine with four CRs in a circular position each facing the tangential direction of the circle demonstrates controlled rotational motion. These findings highlight the degree of freedom and movement potential of biohybrid micromachines.

    DOI

    Scopus

  • Pillar electrodes embedded in the skeletal muscle tissue for selective stimulation of biohybrid actuators with increased contractile distance

    Tingyu Li, Minghao Nie, Yuya Morimoto, Shoji Takeuchi

    Biofabrication    2024.07

    DOI

    Scopus

  • Biohybrid bipedal robot powered by skeletal muscle tissue

    Ryuki Kinjo, Yuya Morimoto, Byeongwook Jo, Shoji Takeuchi

    Matter   7 ( 3 ) 948 - 962  2024.03

    DOI

    Scopus

    6
    Citation
    (Scopus)
  • Biohybrid tensegrity actuator driven by selective contractions of multiple skeletal muscle tissues

    Kazuma Morita, Yuya Morimoto, Shoji Takeuchi

    Biofabrication   15 ( 4 )  2023.10

     View Summary

    Biohybrid robots are robots composed of both biological and artificial materials that can exhibit the unique characteristics commonly found in living organisms. Skeletal muscle tissues can be utilized as their actuators due to their flexibility and ON/OFF controllability, but previous muscle-driven robots have been limited to one-degree of freedom (DOF) or planar motions due to their design. To overcome this limitation, we propose a biohybrid actuator with a tensegrity structure that enables multiple muscle tissues to be arranged in a 3D configuration with balanced tension. By using muscle tissues as tension members of tensegrity structure, the contraction of muscle tissues can cause the movement of the actuator in multiple-DOFs. We demonstrate the fabrication of the biohybrid tensegrity actuator by attaching three cultured skeletal muscle tissue made from C2C12 cells and fibrin-based hydrogel to an actuator skeleton using a snap-fit mechanism. When we applied an electric field of more than 4 V mm−1 to the skeletal muscle tissue, the fabricated actuator had a structure to tilt in multiple directions through the selective displacement of about 0.5 mm in a specific direction caused by the contractions of muscle tissue, resulting in 3D multi-DOF tilting motion. We also show that the actuator possesses superior characteristics of tensegrity structure such as stability and robustness by assessing the response of the actuator to external force. This biohybrid tensegrity actuator provides a useful platform for the development of muscle-driven biohybrid robots with complex and flexible movements.

    DOI PubMed

    Scopus

    4
    Citation
    (Scopus)

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Books and Other Publications

  • Mechanically Responsive Materials for Soft Robotics

    Yuya Morimoto, Shoji Takeuchi( Part: Contributor)

    2020.02

  • Applications of Microfluidic Systems in Biology and Medicine

    Yuya Morimoto, Nobuhito Mori, Shoji Takeuchi( Part: Contributor, pp. 247-274「In vitro tissue construction for organ-on-a-chip application」)

    Springer  2019

  • 骨格筋研究を核とした筋スマート社会

    森本雄矢, 竹内昌治( Part: Contributor, pp. 241-247「第5章7 身体運動を再現するバイオハイブリッドロボット」)

    CMCリサーチ  2019

  • 再生医療・創薬のための3次元細胞培養技術

    根岸みどり, 森本雄矢, 竹内昌治( Part: Contributor, pp. 47-61「第6章 細胞ファイバ技術を応用した3次元組織構築」)

    シーエムシー出版  2018

  • CLINICAL CALCIUM

    森本雄矢, 竹内昌治( Part: Contributor, pp. 59-66「骨格筋組織のin vitro構築」)

    医薬ジャーナル社  2017

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Research Projects

  • 有機イオントロニクスで拓く神経-グリア回路の一細胞レベル生体模倣システム

    日本学術振興会  科学研究費助成事業

    Project Year :

    2023.04
    -
    2028.03
     

    吉田 昭太郎, 森本 雄矢

  • ALSの発症原因解明と治療薬開発に向けたヒト運動ニューロン-骨格筋アレイ

    日本学術振興会  科学研究費助成事業

    Project Year :

    2021.04
    -
    2025.03
     

    根岸 みどり, 澤山 淳, 森本 雄矢

  • Co-culture model with neurons and skeletal muscle tissue for reproduction of motor function declined by aging

    Japan Society for the Promotion of Science  Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research

    Project Year :

    2021.04
    -
    2024.03
     

  • Biohybrid softrobot powered by skeletal muscle tissue capable of high-speed motion

    Japan Society for the Promotion of Science  Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research

    Project Year :

    2021.04
    -
    2023.03
     

  • Development of the 3D intervertebral disc tissue model reconstituted with its precursor cells and the tissue-specific mechanical environment

    Japan Society for the Promotion of Science  Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research

    Project Year :

    2019.06
    -
    2022.03
     

    Miura Shigenori

     View Summary

    We have developed a stretching culture system for 3D tissue model of the intervertebral disc under the mechanical loading conditions as observed in the in vivo tissue. This culture system has a circular chamber structure for 3D culture of annulus fibrosus (AF) cells with the stretchable balloon at the center of the chamber. This balloon can be inflated by infusing air or liquid to mimic the deformation of the nucleus pulposus, caused by the mechanical loading on the spine. By exploring the best ECM components for 3D culture of AF cells, we could prepare a ring-shaped AF-like tissues through the cell-autonomous shrinkage process in our device. Interestingly, we found that stretching culture upregulated the genes to promote the fibrous tissue formation but suppressed the genes to induce cartilage differentiation. We believe our device is useful to reconstruct the fibrocartilaginous lamellar structure of the AF tissues.

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Misc

  • 発電菌ファイバを用いた微生物発電

    辻晶就, 小沢文智, 森本雄矢, 竹内昌治

    化学とマイクロ・ナノシステム学会研究会講演要旨集(CD-ROM)   45th  2022

    J-GLOBAL

  • Autonomous bioactuator driven by chicken cardiomyocytes

    Kaori Furuike, Ai Shima, Shotaro Yoshida, Yuya Morimoto, Shoji Takeuchi

    21st International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences, MicroTAS 2017     1441 - 1442  2020  [Refereed]

     View Summary

    © 17CBMS-0001. This paper describes a chick embryo cardiomyocyte actuator for investigation of cardiomyocyte contractile properties as alternatives of culture system with rodent cardiomyocytes. Chick embryo cardiomyocytes are more accessible than rat or mouse cardiomyocytes in terms of cost and ethics. We cultured chick embryo cardiomyocytes on parylene sheets and observed that the parylene sheets autonomously flapped with the contractile force of cardiomyocytes. Furthermore, the flap frequency increased in response to the addition of isoproterenol, which promotes contraction of cardiac muscles. This technique would reduce the cost of experiments, and thus be expected to promote the study of contractile properties of cardiomyocytes.

  • Locally-Patterned Parylene Membrane Enables Electrical Resistance Measurement for a Cellular Barrier Consisting of < 100 Cells

    Takumi Yamada, Minghao Nie, Ai Shima, Yuya Morimoto, Shoji Takeuchi

    Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS)   2020-January   325 - 327  2020.01  [Refereed]

     View Summary

    © 2020 IEEE. We present a system for measuring electrical resistance of a cellular barrier consisting of < 100 cells. We fabricated a parylene membrane with pores etched by photolithography technique and bonded it to Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) wells by H2O vapor plasma treatment. This membrane separated the well into two compartments. In our system, since the placement and number of pores were easy to control, the pore-etched part of the membrane was fully covered with cells. Thus, electrical resistance was easily measured using only a small number of cells. As a demonstration of the measurement with the system, Caco-2 cells were seeded on an upper side of the membrane, and the resistance was measured using a volt-ohm meter.

    DOI

  • Micro Tissue Assembly for Co-Culturing 3D Skeletal Muscle and Adipose Tissues

    Byeongwook Jo, Minghao Nie, Ai Shima, Yuya Morimoto, Shoji Takeuchi

    Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS)   2020-January   459 - 460  2020.01  [Refereed]

     View Summary

    © 2020 IEEE. This paper proposes micro tissue assembly for co-culturing 3D skeletal muscle and adipose tissues. The adipocytes encapsulated in a microfiber were cultured in advance for maturation which accumulated significantly larger size of lipid droplets compared with conventional 2D dish culture. Then, we assembled a micro tissue by placing the microfiber-based adipose tissue on a PDMS substrate with myoblast-laden collagen solution covering on the top. The assembled micro tissue was then co-cultured for 5 days. We found that the skeletal muscle tissue fabricated in the micro tissue bundled up adipose tissue forming in-vivo like composition. Our skeletal muscle and adipose tissue assembly not only gives a promising outlook for the micro physiological system but also tools for development studies or the cultured meat industry.

    DOI

  • 3D Pocket-Shape Dermis-Equivalent as a Skin Material for a Robotic Finger

    Michio Kawai, Minghao Nie, Haruka Oda, Yuya Morimoto, Shoji Takeuchi

    Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS)   2020-January   340 - 341  2020.01  [Refereed]

     View Summary

    © 2020 IEEE. Skin-equivalent, the in vitro human skin model consisting of dermal and epidermal layers, has the potential to be the human-like and self-healing cover for robots. In this paper, we report a method to fabricate a 3D pocket-shape dermis-equivalent, the main component of the skin-equivalent, and practically cover a robotic finger with it. To fabricate the robotic finger wearing this dermis-equivalent, we designed a small wire-driven robot and covered it with the pocket-shape dermis-equivalent using the proposed method. The robotic finger was able to repeat the alternative bending/unbending motion without splitting the dermis-equivalent. This pocket-shape dermis-equivalent can be applied for the human-like and self-renewable cover for robots.

    DOI

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Syllabus

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Sub-affiliation

  • Faculty of Science and Engineering   Graduate School of Fundamental Science and Engineering

Research Institute

  • 2023
    -
    2024

    Waseda Research Institute for Science and Engineering   Concurrent Researcher

Internal Special Research Projects

  • モジュールアセンブリ法を用いた大型培養組織の実現

    2023  

     View Summary

    Since livinganimals have unique functions that have not been reproduced in mechanicalsystems, biohybrid robots, consisting of biological components and syntheticcomponents, have recently attracted attention. Among the biohybrid robots, weare interested in biohybrid robots driven by muscle contractions. To control thedesigns and dimensions of the robots, cultured skeletal muscle tissue isexpected to be used as actuators. By culturing muscle cells in hydrogelstructures, it is easy to construct skeletal muscle tissues in vitro. However,the contractions of cultured skeletal muscle tissue are limited to a singledirection, so it is difficult to use them as actuators to generate multipledirectional motions. In contrast, muscles in animal bodies have achieved multipledirectional motions without any skeletons (ex. tongues). By mimicking thestructure of living muscles, it is possible to achieve multiple directional motionsusing only muscles. Since the contractile directions of skeletal muscle tissuescorrespond with the directions of myotubes in the tissues, skeletal muscletissue enabling contractions for multiple directions is constructible bycombining multiple cultured skeletal muscle tissues with different myotubedirections.In this project,we developed a bonding method for multiple cultured skeletal muscle tissues tomake single skeletal muscle tissue with multiple directional contractions. As aresult, we found that cell-laden hydrogel is usable as an adhesive for culturedskeletal muscle tissues. Moreover, we evaluated the contractility of theconstructed skeletal muscle tissue. When electrical pulses were applied to thetissue, we confirmed that the constructed tissue achieved multiple directionalmotions. In addition, we found that the major direction of contractions wascontrollable by the distribution of the electrical field, indicating that thepatterns of electrodes can control the major contraction direction. As ademonstration, we also achieved tongue-like motions of the constructed skeletalmuscle tissue by controlling the position of electrodes. From these results, webelieve that our bonding method for skeletal muscle tissue is useful for makingthe skeletal muscle tissue with multiple contractile directions.