Researchers from the Institute for intelligent systems max Planck in Stuttgart is now one step closer to creating microbots for the treatment of various diseases. At the moment, they have already successfully tested a miniature robot that can move inside of the eyeball. In addition, their sizes are so small that they are at “work” doesn’t even hurt thick and viscous substance of the vitreous body.
Miniature robots are 200 times thinner than a human hair and have at one of its ends there is a “drill” of inert material, and another nanopropeller a width of 500 nanometers. The coating nanobots “slippery and slick”, allowing them to move without damaging the surrounding tissue.
Already mentioned above, the propellers in addition to the basic functions of movement and are a reservoir for therapeutic agents, and is capable of targeting (i.e. where necessary) to deliver drugs. And if to speak about such developments, which can be used in flowing fluids such as blood, in this case the targeted delivery is fraught with difficulties. The first is viscous consistency of the inner part of the eyeball and dense molecular matrix must pass through the robot. The second is that the chemical properties of the biopolymers inside the eye do not allow the nanorobot to move. Well, the third is a kind of “standard” for these machines: the robot needs to manage.
Last voiced limitation experts have overcome by the addition of materials such as iron, which react to the magnetic field. The other two helped to solve a biomaterial derived from insectivorous plants.
“The idea of a covering we learned from nature itself. Some plants of the family sarraceniaceae have a very slippery surface in order to catch insects. It is similar to the Teflon coating of the pan. We recreated it and slippery it is crucial for the efficient movement of our robots inside the eye, because it minimizes the adhesion between the biological protein in the vitreous body and the surface of our nanobots.” — said the study’s lead author Sanguan Wu.
The installation for the introduction and control of nanorobots
The universal design of the robots allows them to be used in other parts of the human body.
“We want to be able to use our robots as tools for minimally invasive treatment of all diseases, where there is a remote area surrounded by dense tissue.”
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