All-terrain microrobot flips through a live colon

[sl8]

Tumbling Magnetic Microrobots In Vivo

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Purdue University Mechanical Engineering
2.39K subscribers
Published on Oct 15, 2020

Mechanical Engineering: https://purdue.edu/ME
Biomedical Engineering: https://purdue.edu/BME

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https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2020/Q4/all-terrain-microrobot-flips-through-a-live-colon.html

October 15, 2020

All-terrain microrobot flips through a live colon

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A rectangular robot as tiny as a few human hairs can travel throughout a colon by doing back flips, Purdue University engineers have demonstrated in live animal models.

Why the back flips? Because the goal is to use these robots to transport drugs in humans, whose colons and other organs have rough terrain. Side flips work, too.

Why a back-flipping robot to transport drugs? Getting a drug directly to its target site could remove side effects, such as hair loss or stomach bleeding, that the drug may otherwise cause by interacting with other organs along the way.

The study, published in the journal Micromachines, is the first demonstration of a microrobot tumbling through a biological system in vivo. Since it is too small to carry a battery, the microrobot is powered and wirelessly controlled from the outside by a magnetic field.

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[Sherman A1]

1. Wow

[soothsayer]

2. Amazing! Calls for a song

[whopis01]

3. LMAO. n/t

[soothsayer]

4. No pun intended? Ha (nt)

[whopis01]

5. Oh damn - I didn't even see my own pun there... lol. n/t