Unblocking Arteries with Nanobots

Doctors will one day inject microbots into your blood to fight disease.

Australian scientests have produced electric motors tiny enough to power microbots through blood vessels in the body and the brain. The microbots would be guided by remote control where current medical catheters cannot reach, into small blood vessels to unblock clogged arteries.

Their tiny motor is less than the width of three human hairs. It will soon power medical nanorobots that can swim through tiny blood vessels into the brain. Such devices could enter previously unreachable brain areas, unblocking blood clots, cleaning vessels or sending back images to surgeons.

The strength of their design, which is published in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, was its simplicity. The piezoelectric material vibrates a spiral structure which drives the rapid spinning of a tail, similar to the flagella that bacteria use to propel themselves along.

A few technical hurdles need to be overcome. The miniature motor is still connected to an electricity supply and a way needs to be found to power it remotely.

Source: Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering