Robots could be injected into your bloodstream
Tiny robots so small they can be injected into the bloodstream could soon be used to help carry out surgical procedures.
40 years after 'microscopic submarines' were featured in the sci-fi movie Fantastic Voyage, boffins say they have become a reality, but without a tiny Raquel Welch.
Scientists have created micro-motors - just twice the width of a human hair - which will power tiny robots around the body of stroke victims.
Doctors will be able to control the robot gaining a unique view of things like a stroke-damaged cranial artery via a camera mounted to the front.
Now they have got the microscopic robots sorted the experts are working on creating a tiny Raquel Welch.
While researchers have for a number of years had miniaturized electronics which could be used in this way the problem has been powering them.
Professor James Friend of Melbourne's Monash University said this frustration led them to develop the technology.
"If you pick up an electronics catalogue, you’ll find all sorts of sensors, LEDs, memory chips, etc that represent the latest in technology and miniaturisation," he said.
"Take a look however at the motors and there are few changes from the motors available in the 1950s."
LINKS
blog comments powered by Disqus
