New Bio-Robot Could Treat Patients From Underneath The Skin
A new biobot from scientists at the Columbia University in New York City will be able to deliver drugs on demand from underneath the patient's skin.
It's a 3D-printed machine made from Hydrogel - a soft, but yet resistant solid that's safe to be implanted inside the body.
And it's not your typical robot, it doesn't work with any electricity or batteries - it can be activated through an external magnet!
It works with the Geneva Drive, which is a mechanism consisting of two gears that makes watches tick precisely in seconds.
The whole printing and assembling process takes about 30 minutes, using the latest 3D printing techniques.
The futuristic project has just been published in Science Robotics yesterday.
How it works
In the video below, you can see a demonstration of th Biobot in action.
A magnet from the outside (the silver piece in the video) will move a gear (the black part), which has iron nanoparticles inside it.
The Biobot has 6 different chambers, and with every click of the gear, one chamber releases its dose of medicine!
Experiments
The revolutionary new Biobot has been tested in mice with bone cancer.
The mice were split in two groups - one group would recieve regular chemotherapy (where the whole body is exposed to it), while the other would be implanted with the biobots which were loaded with chemotherapy drugs.
The big difference here is that the drug can be delivered specifically where and when it's needed, instead of affecting the whole body with its negative side effects.
And the results were promising: In the 2nd group of mice, more tumor cells died, the tumors were growing at a slower rate and fewer cells elsewhere in the body suffered from damage!
While this technology is obviously stilll a long way from being commercialized, it is still a breakthrough and opens up a lot of new possibilities for medical robots.
It's also a big step forward for personalized medicine, and could be used for many different causes in the future!
Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- Instagram -
© Sirwinchester
This post has been ranked within the top 25 most undervalued posts in the first half of Jan 07. We estimate that this post is undervalued by $9.01 as compared to a scenario in which every voter had an equal say.
See the full rankings and details in The Daily Tribune: Jan 07 - Part I. You can also read about some of our methodology, data analysis and technical details in our initial post.
If you are the author and would prefer not to receive these comments, simply reply "Stop" to this comment.
Sehr interessanter Beitrag. Danke.
Freut mich dass er dir gefallen hat!
Amazing innovation, this could be a game changer in the future! I'm always impressed to see how far advanced our technology already is.
I think we will see a lot more robotics and AI being used in the medical industry in the future, it will revolutionize many therapies!
A robot that can be operated from beneath the skin - WOW
So futuristic, right? The future is near, scientists nowadays are working on amazing projects that humans could've only dreamed of a few decade ago.
I am really looking forward to seeing these on the market in the future. I have read so much about all the new biotechnology in the last 5 years, but it seems like it takes forever to ever get one of these things available to sale. I am certain it will be a much better world when we can start changing out drugs with technology like this to treat patients :)
Yes unfortunately the process takes very long and our current technology isn't quite ready for mass production yet, but I'm also excited to finally see these in action, I think it will revolutionize the way doctors treat their patients and opens doors for so many more possibilities.
and then junkies get it.... :)
haha, that's right, you could use this in a LOT of different ways!
Great article! I will link it in my recent post, if you dont mind (: