Researchers Develop Medical Micro-robots

Researchers in Korea have developed new micro-robots for medical purposes.

In the future, they will be sent inside the human body to perform a variety of tasks.

The tiny robots were made by researcher teams at the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology.

Some scientists at overseas robotics institutes also contributed to the projects.

The micro-robots are so small that they can only be seen with a microscope.

To enter the body, they are placed inside a capsule and swallowed like a pill.

They are also biodegradable, meaning that they safely dissolve after completing their mission.

Surprisingly, the micro-robots don't have an internal source of power.

Instead, they contain magnetic nano particles that can be manipulated with magnetic fields.

This allows the researchers to move the micro-robots into hard-to-reach places within the body.

The micro-robots are equipped with tiny cameras that can take images and help to observe a patient's condition.

But more importantly, they can be used in the active treatment of various illnesses.

For example, the surgeons can send them to open obstructed blood vessels during heart surgery.

The micro-robots can also carry drugs to different parts of the body and release them.

Furthermore, the magnetic nano particles within the micro-robots can even be heated to raise the temperature of specific areas.

Medical experts say these abilities of micro-robots will greatly improve the medical field in the future.

They will especially be useful in the fight against cancer, which requires targeting very small regions of the body.

 

• biodegradable |baɪoʊdɪ│ɡreɪdəbl  생분해[자연분해]성의(박테리아에 의해 무해 물질로 분해되어 환경에 해가 되지 않는), (↔non-biodegradable)

• degradable dɪˈɡreɪdəbl  (화학적으로) 분해할 수 있는 (→biodegradable)   source of power 동력원

• manipulate məˈnɪpjuleɪt   (흔히 교묘하고 부정직하게 사람·사물을) 조종하다,다루다[조작(操作)하다/처리하다]

• magnetic field  자기장  magnetic  자석 같은, 자성[자기]의, 자성에 의한  obstruct  əbˈstrʌkt (진로·시야 등을) 막다[방해하다]

• vessel ˈvesl  (대형) 선박[배],  (동물의) 혈관, (식물의) 물관[도관] (→blood vessel)