Tiny 'Micro-Robots' in your Bloodstream Could Deliver Drugs with Greater Precision (msn.com)
(Saturday November 22, 2025 @11:34AM (EditorDavid)
from the moving-medicine dept.)
- Reference: 0180174873
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/11/22/0411225/tiny-micro-robots-in-your-bloodstream-could-deliver-drugs-with-greater-precision
- Source link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/biotechnology/robots-in-your-bloodstream-could-deliver-drugs-with-greater-precision/ar-AA1QJuPH
[1]The Washington Post reports :
> Scientists in Switzerland have created a robot the size of a grain of sand that is controlled by magnets and can deliver drugs to a precise location in the human body, a breakthrough aimed at reducing the severe side effects that stop many medicines from advancing in clinical trials... "I think surgeons are going to look at this," [said Bradley J. Nelson, an author of [2]the paper in Science describing the discovery and a professor of robotics and intelligent systems at ETH Zurich]. I'm sure they're going to have a lot of ideas on how to use" the microrobot. The capsule, which is steered by magnets, might also be useful in treating aneurysms, very aggressive brain cancers, and abnormal connections between arteries and veins known as arteriovenous malformations, Nelson said. The capsules have been tested successfully in pigs, which have similar vasculature to humans, and in silicone models of the blood vessels in humans and animals... Nelson said drug-ferrying microrobots of this kind may be three to five years from being tested in clinical trials. The problem faced by many drugs under development is that they spread throughout the body instead of going only to the area in need... A major cause of side effects in patients is medications traveling to parts of the body that don't need them. The capsules developed in Switzerland, however, can be maneuvered into precise locations by a surgeon using a tool not that different from a PlayStation controller. The navigation system involves six electromagnetic coils positioned around the patient, each about 8 to 10 inches in diameter... The capsules are made of materials that have been found safe for people in other medical tools...
>
> When the capsule reaches its destination in the body, "we can trigger the capsule to dissolve," Nelson said.
[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/biotechnology/robots-in-your-bloodstream-could-deliver-drugs-with-greater-precision/ar-AA1QJuPH
[2] https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adx1708
> Scientists in Switzerland have created a robot the size of a grain of sand that is controlled by magnets and can deliver drugs to a precise location in the human body, a breakthrough aimed at reducing the severe side effects that stop many medicines from advancing in clinical trials... "I think surgeons are going to look at this," [said Bradley J. Nelson, an author of [2]the paper in Science describing the discovery and a professor of robotics and intelligent systems at ETH Zurich]. I'm sure they're going to have a lot of ideas on how to use" the microrobot. The capsule, which is steered by magnets, might also be useful in treating aneurysms, very aggressive brain cancers, and abnormal connections between arteries and veins known as arteriovenous malformations, Nelson said. The capsules have been tested successfully in pigs, which have similar vasculature to humans, and in silicone models of the blood vessels in humans and animals... Nelson said drug-ferrying microrobots of this kind may be three to five years from being tested in clinical trials. The problem faced by many drugs under development is that they spread throughout the body instead of going only to the area in need... A major cause of side effects in patients is medications traveling to parts of the body that don't need them. The capsules developed in Switzerland, however, can be maneuvered into precise locations by a surgeon using a tool not that different from a PlayStation controller. The navigation system involves six electromagnetic coils positioned around the patient, each about 8 to 10 inches in diameter... The capsules are made of materials that have been found safe for people in other medical tools...
>
> When the capsule reaches its destination in the body, "we can trigger the capsule to dissolve," Nelson said.
[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/biotechnology/robots-in-your-bloodstream-could-deliver-drugs-with-greater-precision/ar-AA1QJuPH
[2] https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adx1708
This should be good (Score:2)
by alvinrod ( 889928 )
You can't even get some people to take a regular shot/vaccine or they think it causes autism or any number of other negative effects. Good luck telling them you're going to put a bunch of tiny robots in their or their child's body. Just sell them an expensive but otherwise benign crystal and give someone else the technology for cheaper.
Replicators were the scourge of three (Score:2)
by Galactic Dominator ( 944134 )
galaxies. Even the Ancients and the Asgard couldn't stop them. However infinite human ingenuity will save us. Or is that infinite human credulity?
I'm training to be a surgeon (Score:2)
by Megahard ( 1053072 )
Playing video games all day
Robot? (Score:2)
The word "robot" is doing some heavy lifting there.
Re: (Score:2)
> The word "robot" is doing some heavy lifting there.
It seems the attraction to exaggerate here, is practically magnetic.
Re: Robot? (Score:2)
No really, inductively actuated mechanism. Similar systems have been patented 20 years ago. This is no new news, just a willingness to invest into the technology and having customers to pay the cost.