WORLD
How to drive a microscopic robot around the inside of your eye
Baku, April 28 (AZERTAC). A robotics team at ETH-Zurich has created a tiny robot that is injected into the eye and then moved around using a remote control.
The MagMite is made out of magnetic material and is controlled by OctoMag, an electromagnetic system that allows for wireless micromanipulation. OctoMag sits around the head of the patient and consists of eight electromagnets which can be controlled individually to guide the microdevice - which currently measures around 0.3mm in length -- around the eye.
The microrobots -- or perhaps one day nanorobots -- aim to provide a less invasive replacement for conventional retinal surgery, which currently involves inserting relatively large probes (a few millimeters across) through the eye to manipulate structures at the back of the retina. The types of surgeries that these bots could perform include removing membranes that can affect vision in older people, fixing retinal detachments or injecting drugs into the veins of the retina to clear blockages (retinal vein occlusion).
The Inner Space-style bots have been developed at ETH-Zurich`s Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems under the leadership of Brand Nelson. The team has experimented with different propulsion methods -- how to make tiny things swim -- and different magnetic materials. They hope to eventually be able to shrink the robots to such a size that they could be injected into the eye with little or no anaesthetic. MicroMite could live in the eye for longer periods, administering small doses of drugs at regular intervals to treat eye problems.
When asked by World Radio Switzerland if patients would be able to see the robots, Nelson replied: "I suppose if the patient was not under a general anaesthetic they`d be able to see them if it passed over the fovea (the central part of the retina). They shouldn`t need to be under general anaesthetic as it`s a minimally invasive surgical procedure."
So far the microbot has only been tested in eyes from dissected animals, but there are plans afoot for animal trials and later -- if you`re feeling brave -- for human trials.