Sci-fi scenario comes true: Mini-robots the size of a grain of rice used to deliver targeted drugs VIDEO

A team of scientists from Singapore’s Nanyang Polytechnic University (NTUsg) has developed robots the size of a grain of rice that can be controlled using magnetic fields for targeted drug delivery, paving the way to future improved treatments.

The new robot developed by engineers from the Faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) within NTU was presented in an article published in the journal Advanced Materials.

The study is believed to be the first to demonstrate small robots that can carry up to four different drugs and deliver them in a programmed order and dosage.

Compared to previous small robots (nanorobots) that can only carry up to three types of drugs and cannot be programmed to release them in a specific order, these small robots that newly developed offers precise functions that have the potential to significantly improve therapeutic results, while reducing side effects, the research team said.

The NTU team had previously developed small magnetically controlled robots capable of complex movements such as “swimming” through narrow spaces and grasping small objects.

Building on the team’s previous work, lead researcher Assistant Professor Lum Guo Zhan from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) said the team was inspired by the 1960s film Fantastic Voyage, in had a submarine crew reduced in size. of a cell to repair the brain damage of an injured scientist.

“What used to be a setting in a sci-fi movie is now closer to reality with our lab innovation. “Traditional methods of drug administration, such as oral administration and injection, will appear relatively ineffective compared to placing a tiny robot through the body to deliver the drug exactly where it is needed.” on,” Assistant Professor Lum said in a statement.

This tiny robot can travel inside the human body to deliver drugs to the target, releasing them in a programmed order and in a precise dose. Developed by a team of NTUsg scientists, this new soft robot – about the size of a grain of rice – can be controlled by magnetic fields and can carry up to four different types of drugs. This allows for more precise control of delivery and doses administered to patients, which may improve therapeutic outcomes and may lead to biomedical breakthroughs.

Highly precise and programmable drug delivery capability

The bean-sized robot was created using intelligent magnetic materials (magnetic microparticles and polymer) that are non-toxic to humans.

Unlike existing small robots, which cannot control their direction, the newly developed soft robot is very capable – it rolls and crawls to quick to overcome obstacles. Its ability provides great potential for navigating complex, unstructured environments within the human body.

In laboratory tests, the robot performed actions in water that resembled the conditions in the human body. The robot was first placed on a surface divided into four sections and managed to move to each section at speeds between 0.30 mm and 16.5 mm per second and release a different drug in each section, thus proving its ability to carry and be multi-drug resistant. programmed to release them in a controlled manner.

In another experiment, the researchers tested the robot’s ability to release drugs in more difficult environments by using a thicker liquid, and the results showed that the robot was able to travel through the environment and release enough drugs over eight hours.

Furthermore, after eight hours of continuous movement, the robot showed very little drug leakage. This ability to control the release of drugs without excessive leakage makes the soft robot a good candidate for treatments that require precise administration of multiple drugs at different times and places.

“These results show that our soft robot could play an important role in the future in targeted drug delivery, especially in those treatments, such as cancer treatments, that require precise control on multiple drugs,” said co-author of the study, researcher. Yang Zilin, PhD graduate from MAE.

Doctors who currently perform minimally invasive procedures use a catheter and wire to move through blood vessels to treat problems.

But soon they will be replaced by small robots that will be able to swim independently through the body to reach places that we cannot reach with our devices.

The nanorobots could stay in place and release drugs over time, which would be much safer than leaving a catheter or stent in the body for a long time, experts say.

“This is a medical breakthrough in the making,” says Dr. Yeo Leong Litt Leonard, a surgeon at the Department of Neurology at the National University Hospital and Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, offers an independent perspective.

The NTU research team is now trying to make the robots even smaller so that they can eventually be used to deliver advanced treatments for diseases such as brain tumours, bladder cancer and colorectal cancer.

Before these tiny robots can be used for such medical treatments, the NTU researchers plan to further evaluate their performance using organ-on-a-chip devices and animal models. .