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They create a robot that could cross the arteries and capillaries of the human body

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Our organism is made up of countless narrow and winding passageways and almost impenetrable barriers, too complicated for any robot that we can see with the naked eye to cross. Microscale robots are best suited for this task, as they are small enough to squeeze into any tiny space . However, their very small size means that they have very little capacity to transport enough substances that would be necessary to treat a diseased organ.

A team of scientists seems to have found the solution to the problem and it is that they have devised a tiny robot that is capable of dividing into many parts and when they have reached their destination they come back together.

The robot is made of “ferrofluid” , which is a mixture of iron oxide and hydrocarbon oil. So that the substance can be broken into parts or elongated to move through narrow corridors, the scientists used rotating spherical magnets. In this way, it is possible to apply force to the substance.

In the experiment, the researchers built a maze with both large and narrow paths, simulating the interior of the human body , to demonstrate how the robot could traverse arteries and capillaries. By dividing the robot into parts, he was able to successfully reach the end of the maze.

The main obstacle to using this minirobot in the medical field is the system of magnets with which it works, which would have to be strong enough to penetrate human tissue.

In the past ten years, magnetically controlled miniature robots have been increasingly applied in healthcare. The next big leap will be to make these robots with softer, more malleable bodies .

Previous research has shown that such robots can traverse very small spaces in our bodies, such as gaps in tissue and branching blood vessels, to carry loads with cellular precision and perform micromanipulation, the researchers say.

Work is currently underway to make miniature soft robots out of fluids, gels and elastomers , as they are much more flexible than those made of rigid materials, the researchers say.

 

Referencia: Xinjian, F., Yihui, J. et. al. Scale-reconfigurable miniature ferrofluidic robots for negotiating sharply variable spaces. 2022. Science Advances. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq1677

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