Representational image of a tiny robot. Yuuji/iStock
Researchers are continuously making innovative advancements in the robotic industry.
The new development in the sector is a new robot that mimics creeping vine plants.
Developed by researchers at the University of Leeds, the robot with magnetic skin is expected to transform diagnosis and treatment of cancer and tumours.
Robot’s magnetic skin help scientists control them
The robot’s magnetic skin help scientists control them using external magnets. The new invention is claimed to be manoeuvrable enough to navigate an ‘S’ bend. This could allow robot to treat tumours in the deepest, most difficult-to-reach parts of the lungs.
The soft, slender robot grows as it moves and can also squeeze through gaps almost 40% thinner than their resting diameter. This helps robots to navigate narrow, complex pathways deep inside the human body, such as the bronchial tree, according to the study.
“These new robots represent a significant advancement in surgical navigation technology that could benefit millions of people,” said professor Pietro Valdastri, Director of university’s STORM Lab and research supervisor.
“There are a number of current procedures that could greatly benefit from this technology in the future. For example, current technologies to look inside a patient’s lungs or take samples – a bronchoscopy – cannot easily reach most of the airways because it is so difficult to navigate the instrument by pushing it into the patient’s body.”
Valdastri further maintained that the difficulty of the procedure limits capacity in the healthcare system, resulting in long waiting lists and likely progression of the disease.
Robot uses pneumatic pressure on the inside to grow
Called vine robot, the tiny machine uses pneumatic pressure on the inside to grow and magnetics to steer.
While many organizations are considering using vine robots for clinical applications, the Leeds and UCSD researchers believe they are the first to combine them with magnetics.
The findings of the study highlight the success of the researchers’ proposed magnetic steering methodology.
Significant advancement in surgical navigation technology
The new robot represents a significant advancement in surgical navigation technology that could benefit millions of people, according to Valdastri.
The researcher claimed that robot has the potential to improve the safety and efficacy of medical procedures – from diagnoses to biopsies and treatment – reducing recovery times and minimizing surgical risks.
Published in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, the study maintains that external manipulation of such robots through the utilization of magnetically active materials embedded within the vine robot’s skin. This results in a completely flexible, steerable, growing structure that can be actuated via the application of external magnetic fields and field gradients.
Robot could be used to take a tissue sample or deliver treatment
Researchers developed the vine robot of 8 mm in diameter, constructed from a polyethylene substrate coated with a silicone layer embedded with magnetic micro-particles.
“We demonstrate the ability of our robots to navigate complex environments and steer around large obstacles in a shear free manner via the simultaneous control of both the magnetic field and the growing pressure,” said researchers in the study.
“Finally, we demonstrate our robot by performing the selective navigation of multiple bifurcations within a bronchial tree phantom.”
The robot becomes magnetised by coating it in silicon embedded with millions of magnetic micro-particles, so tiny you could fit roughly 20 of them across a human hair.
Once at the target location, the robot could be used to take a tissue sample or deliver treatment, which could ultimately lead to better treatment outcomes, the research suggests.
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“This study shows that by using the trajectory planning algorithm we have devised, the dual External Permanent Magnet platform could be used to accurately control magnetic medical devices in a safe manner,” said the study’s lead author, PhD researcher Michael Brockdorff.
“We demonstrated this by navigating a soft magnetic robot through the tiny pathways of a brain phantom to the base of an aneurysm. From here, the appropriate drugs or medical devices could be deployed to treat it, or therapy could be delivered.”
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Prabhat Ranjan Mishra Prabhat, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, is a tech and defense journalist. While he enjoys writing on modern weapons and emerging tech, he has also reported on global politics and business. He has been previously associated with well-known media houses, including the International Business Times (Singapore Edition) and ANI.