Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Ohio State University have discovered a way to send soft tiny robots into humans. This may open the door for ways to deliver treatments for various conditions ranging from aortic artery blockages to colon polyps as well as less invasive surgical procedures.
The comprehensive study, which uses origami, an ancient Japanese practice, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on September 14.
Renee Zhao, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Ohio State University and the co-author of the paper, stated that using this method, doctors utilize magnetic fields to help guide the soft robot as it ferries treatments or medications to the regions that need them in the body.
The robot is made of a soft composite which has magnetic particles embedded, which means it can be controlled remotely using magnetic fields. As compared to our current technologies, the robot is significantly less invasive. This is not to mean that this is the first time robots have been used to deliver medical treatments. However, this is the first design that uses a ‘soft’ component unlike the traditional robots that are made of hard, stiff materials.
Zhao adds that the “soft” part of the robot is vital as the material offers the advantage of not using tethers, controllers or motors, to facilitate its introduction into the body as well as its movement to its destination.
Based on the independently controlled folding and deployment of the origami unit, the soft origami robot may be used to deliver treatments selectively. The origami allows the material to release the treatment when it reaches its destination, spreading the treatment along with it and applying it to the organ or tissue that needs it.
While previous origami-style medication delivery systems are also not new, prior designs relied on bulky and cumbersome ways of activating the origami to deliver the treatments. Other systems did not allow for the treatments to be delivered to an exact location in the body.
With this robot, bulkiness is eliminated and as elaborated in the study, the researchers used magnetic fields in the lab to control the speed, intensity and direction of the material’s folding and its deployment.
However, the robot is yet to be used in the human body as the research was conducted in a lab. The researchers believe that the technology could enable doctors to control the robot remotely using magnetic fields alone.
Glaucio Paulino, the paper’s co-author, anticipates that the magnetic origami system will have many other applications in the future beyond their use in the medical field. It would be interesting to hear what DarioHealth Corp. (NASDAQ: DRIO) sees as the possible life-saving uses for this robot.
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