Swarms of tiny nose robots could clear infected sinuses, researchers say | Medical research

Researchers can be deployed before blowing into a tissue from the nose to a tissue, not greater than a dust stain to heal stubborn infected sinuses, each of which is larger than a dust stain.

Micro-robots are part of the width of a human hair and have been successfully placed in the animal sinuses by researchers in universities in China and Hong Kong in pre-clinical trials.

The herds are injected into the sinus cavity through a channel passing through the nostril and directed to their targets by electromagnetism, where they can be done to heat and catalyze chemical reactions to erase bacterial infections. The fully targeted technology has hopes that it can reduce dependence on antibiotics and other generalized drugs.

Small devices are part of the micro and nano-robot area that expands for use in medicine. It was also developed to give medicine and remove bacteria from medical implants such as stents and hernia networks.

Experts believe that in five to 10 years, they may be in clinical use to treat infections in bladder, intestines and sinuses. Scientists in China, Switzerland, the United States and the UK are developing more sophisticated versions that can move in bloodstream.

The latest development came from the cooperation of academics at the Chinese University in Hong Kong and from universities in Guangxi, Shenzhen, Jiangsu, Yangzhou and Macau.

Researchers in the developing area accept risks, some small micro-robots that remain behind after treatment may cause longer-term side effects.

Another potential problem mentioned by technology experts is the suspicion of conspiracy theories that arise around the fears that robots can be activated without consent to invite robots to the human body.

The last breakthrough based on animal rather than human studies includes “doped” magnetic particles with copper atoms placed with a catheter before guiding clinicians under a magnetic field.

The herds can be heated by reacting to light from an optical fiber placed in the body as part of the treatment. This allows micro-robots to relax and penetrate the viscous pus that form a barrier to the infection area. The light source also encourages micro-robots to disrupt bacterial cell walls and to release the reagent oxygen species that kill bacteria.

Study, published In science robots showed that robots can eliminate bacteria from pig sinuses and can clean them in live rabbits without “significant tissue damage”.

Researchers have produced a model on how technology can work on a human being, herds of robots were deployed under operating room conditions, and allowed doctors to see their progress using X-rays. Future applications may include the fight against the respiratory tract, stomach, intestine, bladder and urethra’s bacterial infections.

“Our recommended micro-robotic therapeutic platform offers the advantages of invasive, minimal resistance and non-drug intervention,” he said.

Prof. Prof Sylvain Martel, Director of Nano Robotics Laboratory in Polytechnique de Montréal in Canada, not involved in the research, said science seems effective.

“Like a rocket that you can direct with a magnetic field,” he said.

He predicted that micro-robots may be available for treatments in three to five years, but probably not for another decade, because regulators still have to approve their use and production processes that are still different from that of standard pharmaceuticals.

“The main advantage of micro-robots is targeting,” Martel said. “Instead of taking medication entering the bloodstream and go to a small amount of right, you can target.”

He said he was afraid of the idea of ​​having robotic devices in their bodies soon.

“Maybe initially [they will be afraid]”He said.” But they will get used to it quite quickly. “

Artificial Intelligence Reader at the University of Loughborough Andrea Soltoggio said, “The people may suspect non-biological objects such as nano-robots.

“However, it is important to look at what Nano-Robots are designed for. In this case, we see an example of an intellectual intervention to reduce or eliminate an infection with a localized action.

“Nano-Robots’ behavior is usually simpler and more targeted than many drugs, and they can effectively complete a wide variety of treatments.”