The Institute of Medical Technology at the University of Lübeck and the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Individualized and Cell-based Medical Engineering IMTE are developing tiny floating robots that will be able to navigate through the body like submarines in the future. At 3 mm long and 1.2 mm wide, the microrobot developed is smaller than a grain of rice.
Together with the Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine and the Department of Neuroradiology at the UKSH, Lübeck Campus, scientists from the Institute of Medical Technology and Fraunhofer IMTE have used magnetic fields to steer such a microrobot through the middle human cerebral artery to an artificial aneurysm in a model [1].
The aim of the scientific team is to carry out medical interventions and treatments as gently as possible and to administer medication in such a way that it is more effective at the site of the disease. A magnetic microrobot has been developed that can only be steered through the human body using magnetic fields. In the future, this robot could deliver drugs directly to a tumor, for example, and thus reduce the side effects of chemotherapy drugs.
The magnetic microrobot can also be used to treat blocked blood vessels or aneurysms. If a microrobot can be brought into the aneurysm remotely and close it, this would be a major advance.
The microrobot was produced using additive manufacturing - i.e. medical 3D printing - and coated with a magnetic paint. Magnetic nanoparticles produced at the Institute of Medical Technology were used for the coating. Rotating magnetic fields cause the magnetic microrobot to rotate and move forward. For the investigations, a model of a middle cerebral artery was created from patient data, through which the microrobot could be successfully steered into an aneurysm.
Source: University of Lübeck
