Swallow a team of doctors
A surgeon in a pillEkaterina Lyulchak, RBC daily
Special devices designed on the basis of micro robots and a "smart" system perform minor operations in the patient's body without incisions. So, doctors will be able to take a biopsy, remove an appendix or a tumor, sew up internal ruptures (perforation of an ulcer) with the help of small capsules that the patient swallows like a pill.
It is no secret that one of the tasks of the developers of biomedical treatment methods is to create bloodless methods of intervention in the human body that would not leave scars. And now, through the efforts of an international group of researchers led by Swiss specialists, a whole class of capsules has been created, with each variety performing a specific function. The invention already copes with almost all pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract that previously required surgical intervention. The revolutionary nature of the development lies in the fact that the nanorobots that existed up to now were passive: the camera embedded in the capsule structure snatched only fragments in front of it, and the capsule itself was not controlled from the outside.
In contrast to these medical robots, the mini-diagnostic capsule is equipped with devices for independent movement inside the body, which allows the device to be fixed in a specific place or, if necessary, return to a certain point. Thus, the doctor will be able to examine the wound from all sides. These robots on legs, which the head of the study, Zoltan Negi, compares to insects, will be designed to study the body and diagnose diseases.
The next class of robots is represented by capsules that take tests. Such tablets will be used for expert assessment of the state of internal organs. A micro-spatula will be mounted in the capsule, which will take the required material for analysis and simultaneously assess the general state of its environment.
However, the greatest interest was aroused by microsurgery capsules equipped with a laser, with which the robot performs an operation to remove or stitch cells and tissues. "The idea of creating surgical tablets is certainly interesting and has attracted researchers for a long time," biophysicist, expert at the Institute of Aging Biology Igor Artyukhov told RBC daily. — Today there are already similar micro-devices with built-in cameras that are used as diagnostic tools. However, their widespread introduction is not happening yet: the process of their production is too filigree and expensive. What can we say about devices that act like professional surgeons? This innovation will appear in the best case in ten years."
However, the problem of producing such capsules on an industrial scale is also how to "cram" electronics into one capsule with a volume of several cubic millimeters, which normally occupies an entire room. It is in this regard that bioengineers have created not one supercapsule, but several robot tablets at the same time, each of which performs certain functions: one performs analysis, the other transmits everything to the monitor, the third sews the wound, the fourth delivers medicine to the damaged area. And the patient will swallow not only the "surgeon", but also the "diagnostician", "anesthesiologist" and "pharmacist". And doctors will be able to vary the number of nanocapsules depending on the severity of the disease. In addition, capsules can be transformed directly inside the body, being constructed into a more powerful system that has several functions at once. Self-assembly inside the body became possible thanks to the introduction of a magnetic mechanism into the capsules, regulated by an external installation. Thus, the doctor manages several agents at once, composing them depending on the urgent needs.
A model of a self-assembling robot consisting of three subunits
(a snapshot from an article from the Science News website "A Surgeon You Can Swallow" — VM)
"Researchers should be careful with magnetic fields," said Candidate of Technical Sciences, associate professor of MATI im. Tsiolkovsky Vladimir Kuzkin. — The atoms of the human body by their nature have magnetic properties, so the effect on the body of magnets affects health. Weak magnetic fields of a certain frequency are used in the treatment of diseases of the joints and circulatory system. But too strong magnetic fields of high frequency are harmful to humans. Therefore, the technology of magnetic control of micro robots must be carefully verified." The first capsules have already been tested in the artificial gastrointestinal tract, having coped with 75% of the tasks. According to experts, for a pilot instance, such a percentage of a positive result cannot but please.
"In my opinion, surgical capsules are not the limit, but a transitional link from traditional surgery to nanosurgery. In the near future, nanoagents will appear not in the form of tablets, but in the form of vaccines. They will be injected into the circulatory system and spread immediately throughout the body, not just through the gastrointestinal tract. Thus, all operations will be carried out at the cellular level, and diseases will be eradicated in the bud," Igor Artyukhov suggested. Currently, scientists are engaged in further improvement of capsules. The researchers hope that the first doctor capsules will appear in medical centers in Europe in the near future.
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03.12.2008