International researchers, including University of British Columbia electrical and computer engineering professor John Madden and PhD candidate Seyed Mohammad Mirvakili, are using fibres from fishing line and sewing thread to create inexpensive artificial muscles that could be used in medical devices, humanoid robots,  and prosthetic limbs, or woven into fabrics. In a study published in Science, researchers describe how they created inexpensive artificial muscles that generate more force and power than human or animal muscles of the same size. Fibres were twisted into tight coils to create an artificial muscle that could contract and relax in response to changes in temperature, which can be controlled by an electrical heating element. The system has been demonstrated by using such muscles to manipulate surgical forceps, as shown in a video available on www.bcmj.org [8]. The artificial muscles may also find 
use in robots and low-cost devices that help those with impaired mobility.

Video [9] of the artificial muscle manipulating surgical forceps.

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