Tiny robots that could save lives
Posted in This Just In... on July 7th, 2009 by gkrakowA long time ago, when someone quoted the famous advertising line “a silly millimeter longer” they were talking about a brand of cigarettes which were supposedly better because they were very slightly longer than the competition.
Some 50 years later it seems that line can also be used to describe an amazing robot breakthrough – devices small enough to crawl through and repair your veins.
According to an article published by British Website The Enquirer, scientists from Technion University in Israel have created a tiny robot said to be able to crawl through your veins to diagnose and potentially treat diseases such as artery blockage and cancer.
The secret here is the robot’s super compact size. Since this little bugger is only one millimeter in diameter, and has no mechinical engine or onboard controls, overall dimensions are kept to a bare minimum. The scientists created a device controlled only by a magnetic field placed outside the patient’s body.
According to the report, because of their size these robots shouldn’t interfere with blood flow and will be able to “crawl its way through the typical human body’s veins and arteries using miniscule outstretched arms which grip the vessel walls.”
Scary, huh? But this still seems a lot less intrusive than angioplasty and other current treatments. Medical device breakthroughs like this open the possibility of minimally invasive medical diagnosis and treatments.
Researchers are reportedly also toying with the idea of attaching teeny, tiny cameras as well as other tools it may need to perform internal surgery.
One disturbing thought: The article doesn’t mention exactly what happens to the little robots once doctors are done with them.