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Researchers at Drexel University in Philadelphia have been developing tiny robots that will put more precision into how drugs are administered. Minute bead-shaped robots are controlled by magnetic fields, travelling alongside blood cells to deliver medication where the body needs it.
In a paper published in Nature Scientific Reports, the team of researchers led by MinJun Kim, PhD, reveal how much closer these “microswimmers” are to changing the way we administer drugs to the body.
U Kei Cheang, PhD, who contributed to the paper, told DrexelNow that “we believe microswimmer robots could one day be used to carry out medical procedures and deliver more direct treatments to affected areas inside the body,” thanks to their new research.
The tiny, bead-shaped robots are magnetically linked together to form chains of varying length. These chains are controlled by external rotating magnetic fields that propel them forward, and they are broken up when needed by increasing the frequency of these rotations.
The longer the chain, the faster these robots can travel, and crucially with minimum effect on patient health. The hope is that this method can be developed not only for delivering drugs, but also for performing invasive surgery.
Whilst the robots are by no means perfect, these findings hold a lot of promise for a new, more effective way of treating patients in the future.
