Robot and surgery
Scientists in Korea have made robots that are small enough to be able to explore the human body and driven by the heart muscle.Sukho Park at Chonnam National University, Korea, and his colleagues has designed a micro-robot driven by the cell. Tim Park make the robot by growing heart muscle tissue from a rat on a small robotic skeletons made from polidimetilsiloksana (PDMS). PDMS is a biocompatible polymer which makes the robot suitable for use in biomedical applications.
Something special about these robots, says Park, is that they do not require an external power supply. But the heart muscle cells, which relaxes and contracts to provide energy. Heart muscle cells themselves obtain energy from a glucose culture medium. Pulsed cells that enable the robot itself is moving the sixth leg.
This robot has three front legs are short (400 micrometers long) and three hind legs are longer (length of 1200 micrometers), all mounted on a rectangular body. At the heart cells to contract, the longer rear legs bend inward. This yields a difference of friction between the front legs and hind legs, which suppresses the robot moves forward. The researchers measured the average velocity of the robot is approximately 100 micrometers per second.
Park said the robots that resemble crabs can be used in the body to clean the cavity or a clogged artery, by removing a solvent to clean the blockage of agents through which they pass.