Remote-controlled microbots to soon
aid doctors
To better treat a
variety of diseases, researchers have developed soft, flexible and motor-less
microrobots that can be remotely controlled with electromagnetic fields.
Made up of a biocompatible hydrogel and magnetic
nanoparticles, these microbots can move and swim inside the patient's body when
an electromagnetic field is applied, accoding to the researchers from Ecole
Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne, Switzerland who developed bio-inspired
robots that looks and moves like a bacterium.
To build one of these
microrobots, the nanoparticles were first placed inside layers of a
biocompatible hydrogel. Then, an electromagnetic field was applied to
orientate the nanoparticles at different parts of the robot, followed by a
polymerisation step to "solidify" the hydrogel.
After this, the robot
was placed in water where it folded in specific ways depending on the
orientation of the nanoparticles inside the gel, to form the final overall 3D
architecture of the microrobot. Once the final shape was achieved, an electromagnetic
field was used to make the robot swim. Then, when heated, the robot changed
shape and unfolded.
This fabrication
approach allowed the researchers to build microrobots that mimic the bacterium
that causes African trypanosomiasis, otherwise known as sleeping
sickness. This particular bacterium uses a flagellum for propulsion, but
hides it away once inside a person's bloodstream as a survival mechanism.
The researchers tested
different microrobot designs to come up with one that imitated this behaviour.
The prototype robot has a bacterium-like flagellum that enables it to swim.
When heated with a laser, the flagellum wraps around the robot's body and is
"hidden".
Scientists around the world have been studying ways to use
miniature robots to better treat a variety of diseases. The robots are
designed to enter the human body, where they can deliver drugs at specific
locations or perform precise operations like clearing clogged-up arteries.
The work was published
in the journal Nature Communications.
Source: www.zeenews.india.com
29.07.2016
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