Article "Foldable, organic and easily broken down: Why DNA is the material of choice for nanorobots"
May 10, 2021
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Article "Foldable, organic and easily broken down: Why DNA is the material of choice for nanorobots"
May 10, 2021
https://youtu.be/xYB02zgulDg
Shape-morphing microrobots for localized cancer treatment
Nov 18, 2021
Quote:
Researchers have designed magnetically propelled microrobots capable of targeted drug delivery. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, a shape-morphing microfish (SMMF) is designed to encapsulate a drug (doxorubicin (DOX)) by closing its mouth in phosphate-buffered saline and release the drug by opening its mouth in a slightly acidic solution. According to the researchers, “With the continuous optimization of size, motion control, and imaging technology, these magnetic SMMRs will provide ideal platforms for complex microcargo operations and on-demand drug release.”
Credit:
Environmentally Adaptive Shape-Morphing Microrobots for Localized Cancer Cell Treatment
Chen Xin, Dongdong Jin, Yanlei Hu, Liang Yang, Rui Li, Li Wang, Zhongguo Ren, Dawei Wang, Shengyun Ji, Kai Hu, Deng Pan, Hao Wu, Wulin Zhu, Zuojun Shen, Yucai Wang, Jiawen Li, Li Zhang, Dong Wu, and Jiaru Chu
ACS Nano, DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.1c06651
https://youtu.be/GxDxCm_xEOE
Could YOU swallow a robot?
Jun 16, 2022
Quote:
Have you ever wondered if that over-the-counter pill you took an hour ago is helping to relieve your headache?
With NSF's support, a team of Stanford University mechanical engineers has found a way to target drug delivery…to better attack that headache.
Meet the millirobots. These finger-sized, wireless, origami inspired, amphibious robots could become medicines future lifesaver. They can roll, spin, and swim into narrow spaces with a mission to deliver and dispense a high-concentration drug exactly where the body needs it. Especially helpful when treating more complicated medical conditions like cardiovascular disease or cancer.
Millirobots go beyond the basic origami foldability to maneuver by utilizing accordion fold action to squeeze the medicine out.
Besides dispensing medicine more effectively, they could also carry instruments or cameras into the body, changing how doctors examine patients. The team is working on using ultrasound imaging to track where the robots go, eliminating the need to cut open organs.
While more testing is needed, the team continues combining novel smart materials and structures into unique designs to form new biomedical devices that could one day maximize health outcomes while minimizing the need for invasive procedures.
Article "Smart microrobots learn how to swim and navigate with artificial intelligence"
The AI-powered swimmer is able to switch between different locomotory gaits adaptively to navigate toward any target location on its own
August 4, 2022
Article "MiGriBot: a miniature robot able to perform pick-and-place operations of sub-millimeter objects"
September 6, 2022
https://youtu.be/1va-OQvfJDg
Tiny, caterpillar-like soft robot grabs, rolls and degrades
Sep 14, 2022
Quote:
When you hear the term “robot,” you might think of complicated machinery working in factories or roving on other planets. But “millirobots” might change that. They’re robots about as wide as a finger that someday could deliver drugs or perform minimally invasive surgery. Researchers reporting in ACS Applied Polymer Materials have developed a soft, biodegradable, magnetic millirobot inspired by the walking and grabbing capabilities of insects.
“Soft Tunable Gelatin Robot with Insect-like Claw for Grasping, Transportation, and Delivery” - Wanfeng Shang, Ph.D., and Yajing Shen, Ph.D. (corresponding authors)
https://youtu.be/dPg_o-g-H2s
Phase-changing metal robot
Jan 31, 2023
"Scientists invented a melting liquid robot that can escape from a cage"Quote:
A new type of robot can change between solid and liquid forms on demand, to achieve a range of different goals
by Leo Sands
January 26, 2023
https://youtu.be/A340W0uSWKM
Micro robots with brains
Mar 6, 2023
Quote:
Micro Robots are a revolutionary new technology that could change how we interact with the world around us. For the first time, a collaborative research team of electrical and computer engineers , with support from NSF, has installed electronic brains on solar-powered microbots the size of a human hair. One of the biggest challenges is their small size-requiring external control, such as a computer or smartphone, limiting their range and making the bots difficult to manipulate remotely until now.
Article "Urine-powered nanobots shrink bladder cancer tumors in mice by 90%"
by Paul McClure
January 15, 2024