Tangle-Proof Grooming Brush Inspired by Cat Tongues

Innovation: Academia

Harvard

2018

Image: Sigmund / Unsplash / CC BY SA - Creative Commons Attribution + ShareAlike

Attach Temporarily

Living systems must sometimes, temporarily, stay in one place, climb or otherwise move around, or hold things together. This entails attaching temporarily with the ability to release, which minimizes energy and material use. Some living systems repeatedly attach, detach, and reattach for an extended time, such as over their lifetimes. Despite being temporary, these attachments must withstand physical and other forces until they have achieved their purpose. Therefore, living systems have adapted attachment mechanisms optimized for the amount of time or number of times they must be used. An example is the gecko, which climbs walls by attaching its toes for less than a second. Other examples include insects that attach their eggs to a leaf until they hatch, and insects whose wings temporarily attach during flight but separate after landing.

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Capture, Absorb, or Filter Solids

Some living systems must secure solid particles such as sediment, usually to keep the particles from hindering their health or activity. The most common way in which they do this is through filtering. To be effective, a filtering system must be appropriate to the sizes of solid particles to be captured and must capture only what is needed. It must also be effective in the appropriate media–air, water, or sometimes solids like soil. An example is mangroves, which are trees that grow along ocean coasts. Their root system slows down and settles sediment out of the water, building up soil to support the mangrove ecosystem.

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Capture, Absorb, or Filter Liquids

The most common liquid used by living systems is water, which they require to survive. But there are many other liquids that provide nourishment, play a role in defense mechanisms, or serve other purposes. Water varies in its availability; it is sometimes plentiful and sometimes very scarce or only available as fog or mist. To minimize the energy required to capture, absorb, or filter liquids, living systems have strategies that take advantage of the unique properties of the given liquid. For example, water moves from a gaseous to liquid state when it encounters a surface colder than the air. Plants in forests that experience fog and clouds more than rain have strategies that condense liquid water from moist air.

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Brush from Harvard has 3D-printed silicone spikes that effectively and gently clean pet hair.

Benefits

Gentle
Effective
Easy to clean

Applications

Cosmetics
Medical treatment

UN Sustainable Development Goals Addressed

Goal 9: Industry Innovation & Infrastructure

The Challenge

House cats can spend up to 24% of their waking time grooming their fur coats. Grooming helps them remove pesky fleas, loose hairs, and excess heat. If they do not groom enough, debris can tangle in their fur, possibly causing painful tugging of the skin and even infection. Many cat owners supplement grooming by brushing through their cat’s coat regularly, but many brushes are insufficient in detangling fur and may cause skin irritation.

Innovation Details

The brush consists of 3D-printed silicone strands arranged on a flexible silicone substrate. As the user runs the brush along the cat fur, it collects loose hair strands and excess dirt. Due to the brush configuration, the operation requires lower grooming forces, meaning it is gentler on the animal’s skin. Also, as the brush runs along the fur, the strands automatically rotate when needed to avoid tangling. In addition, due to the strands’ configuration, the device is easier to clean than a typical brush.

Biomimicry Story

Cats use their textured tongues to groom themselves, making sure excess hair and debris are swept away. Cat tongues have hundreds of sharp, backward-facing spines called papillae. These papillae are multifunctional: they help to grab onto loose hair, grip food, and draw up saliva from the base of the tongue to cool the cat.

See Related Content

Biological Strategy

Tongue Defeats Gravity

Domestic cat

The tongue of the cat pulls liquid into its mouth by exploiting fluid inertia to beat gravity.

References

Journal article

Cats use hollow papillae to wick saliva into fur

PNAS

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