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| A group of scientists developed a micrometer-sized robot that detects and cures cancer. / Scientific Reports. |
By Lee Kyung-min
Korean scientists developed a micrometer-sized robot that detects and cures cancer, Park Jong-oh, lead researcher and mechanical engineering professor at Chonnam National University, said Monday.
They completed in-vivo tests, and the results were verified as a feasible measure for treatment, they wrote in a paper, which was published in the December edition of Scientific Reports, sister journal of the science magazine Nature.
The robot, named bacteriobot, works by the mechanism of the integration of three-micrometer-microactuators and microsensors.
"It is a bacteria-based microrobot, composed of attenuated S. typhimurium attached to a microstructure. These bacteria enable the microrobot to move toward tumors, acting as a combination of microsensor, microactuator, and therapeutic agent.
"The microstructure acts as a therapeutic molecule containing high amounts of drugs. The bacteriobot can be synergistic therapy against incurable diseases such as cancer," he wrote in the study.
To validate the tumor targeting and localization of the bacteriobots, they injected bacteriobots in tumor-bearing mice, and the results showed that the S. typhimurium bacteriobots were successfully delivered to the tumor region.
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