Korean scientists have developed a tiny robot, about the size of a grain of rice, which can swim along inside human veins and unplug clogged vessels.
According to the team of researchers led by Park Jong-oh at Chonnam National University, the ``micro-robot,'' measuring a millimeter long and 5 millimeters from end to end, successfully cleared blockages of vessels inside a pig.
Scientists around the world have been competing to develop micro-robots that could be sent through the body to clear blocked vessels, track down diseases and deliver drugs, proving the 1987 Dennis Quaid film, ``Innerspace,'' as prophetic. However, this marks the first time that such a device was successfully tested in a living laboratory animal, Park said.
``The navigation and control system, which allows us to steer the robot in any direction and monitor the movement in real time, will likely contribute as the crucial core technology in developing medical-purpose robots of the future,'' Park said during a presentation at his university in Gwangju.
``Robots like these may open new possibilities in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases ― our device measures just 1 millimeter wide, an ideal size to probe through coronary arteries, which average around 2 millimeters in diameter.''
Vein-cleansing mini-robots have been a subject of particular interest for Korean scientists, with their research getting significant financial backing by the government with hopes that such devices could be injected into humans to treat cardiovascular diseases by as early as 2020.
Park's research was one of the projects under a 7-year, 20.3 billion won ($17.8 million) plan by the Ministry of Knowledge and Economy to develop such robots that was introduced in 2007.
Once entered into blood vessels, the robot is guided by an outside electromagnetic field that allows it to navigate through the body automatically to a designated point or be controlled by computer with joystick-like controls.
The robot can travel up to 50 millimeters per minute, and once inside a clogged vessel, it pierces through blockages and plaque with its built-in drill that rotates up to 1,800 times per minute.
The robot's drill can also double as a drug injector, and Park said the next version of the robot will be equipped with better disease detection and treatment capability, including ultrasound signals.
``The hardest part was developing a technique to precisely control the robot's movement, which was difficult due to the ever-changing nature of blood flow velocity and blood pressure. But our electromagnetic system has proved efficient enough,'' Park said.
``The next step in the development is to combine the robot's navigation and treatment capability that includes ferrying drugs.''
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