5-in-1 miniature surgical robot is the size of a seed
SMRTR summary
A robot the size of a fingertip may one day replace an entire surgical toolkit. Scientists at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have developed a 4.4-millimeter microrobot capable of five distinct medical functions: crawling through tissue, cutting biological material, delivering drugs, collecting biopsy samples, and generating therapeutic heat.
What makes it remarkable is the speed. It switches between all five modes in less than a second, with no wires, batteries, or onboard electronics. It's controlled entirely by external magnetic fields.
"Most magnetic robots like this can perform only one or two functions. Our latest invention can now do five, and our long-term goal is for doctors to use these mini robots in the body, navigate them to a targeted location, and use them to perform treatments," says team leader Lum Guo Zhan.
The robot remains years from clinical use, but the vision is striking: one tiny device, guided by a surgeon, performing diagnosis and treatment in a single pass.
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