Researchers at Purdue University (USA) have developed micro-robots capable of crossing the colon to deliver drugs. The first (successful) tests have recently been carried out on animal models.
Imagine a microrobot capable of moving through your intestines to deposit a drug load in an ultra-targeted area… Such is the promise of work currently underway at the University of Purdue, USA. Over the past few months, researchers have developed several of these micro-machines to test them on mouse models.
In a recent study, micro-robots 0.8mm long by 0.4mm wide were inserted through the rectum into the colon of sleeping rodents. And the least we can say is that the journey is "excruciating".
“Moving a robot through a colon is like using an airport buggy to get to a terminal faster” , popularizes the biomedical engineer Luis Solorio, main author of the study. “Not only is the ground vibrating, but there are also a lot of people around you. In the colon, you actually have all these fluids and materials going one way, while the robot moves in the opposite direction. It really is not an easy journey” .
These tiny devices obviously don't rely on batteries. They are remotely controlled by a rotating magnetic field. “When we apply a rotating external magnetic field to these robots, they spin like a car tire would when traversing rough terrain” , summarizes David Cappelleri, associate professor of mechanical engineering and main author of the study. “The magnetic field also safely penetrates different types of media, which is important for the use of these robots in the human body” .
Thanks to this approach, all the micro-robots tested were able to move despite the difficulties, to finally successfully deliver their drug load in very targeted areas.
This study is a first successful in vivo demonstration for this type of technology. Naturally, it is still too early to imagine the first clinical trials. Nevertheless, this work shows that it could be possible, in the long term, to rely on these devices to deliver drugs into the human colon, with the aim of treating intestinal diseases .
These robots leave behind minimal tissue damage, we could also deploy them in many other "tunnels" of the human body in an effort to treat as much as possible of diseases. Another advantage:they are made of cheap bio-compatible materials, and can be produced relatively quickly.
