BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Ingestible Origami Surgeon Could Be Coming 'Soon' To A Pill Near You

This article is more than 6 years old.
 

Origami Robot

MIT CSAIL

When moviegoers took in the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage, they were introduced to a world where humans could transform into microscopic surgeons to cure patients from the inside. More than 50 years later, this concept remains sci-fi, but the influence of robotics in fields like farming makes one wonder if medicine could be next.

In recent decades, advancements in engineering and artificial intelligence have allowed scientists to equip robots with the tools needed to perform medical procedures. Medical robotics’ first success came in 1985, when a robotic arm performed a stereotactic brain biopsy with 0.05mm accuracy. In the years that followed, the technology was used for hip replacements, endoscopy and other treatments.

Origami robot in ice pill.

One research institution that is advancing robotic medical implementation is the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT. In 2016, Professor Daniela Rus and a team of researchers created an ingestible robot that could be controlled magnetically outside of a patient.

The two-centimeter-long robots are made of magnets attached to dried pig intestines. “The challenge is finding bio compatible materials that are easy to be controlled and amenable to the types of operations that are needed from the robot,” says Dr. Rus.

The device is folded into an origami shape and encapsulated in ice to form a pill that can melt and unfold once it reaches the stomach. Researchers conducted trials using a pig stomach and a water/lemon juice mixture to simulate digestive acids.

Ice pill traveling down model esophagus.

One year later, the robot is not yet human-ready. “We’re still in the process of asking for vivo testing,” says Dr. Rus. “Typically, getting in vivo experiments done and getting approvals takes three years. Going from animals to humans might be another three years. There could be a minimum of six years to have a successful treatment for humans.”

When the technology is ready for implementation, the possibilities for doctors will be endless—robots will be able to deliver medicine, patch wounds and remove foreign objects from the body. In fact, one of CSAIL’s original use cases for the robot was recovering button batteries from a patient’s stomach. Using an external magnetic field, the robot dislodged the hazardous battery from the digestive system. “To think about these procedures without cutting the body is extraordinarily exciting,” says Dr. Rus.

Robot removing battery.

Outside CSAIL, robotic medical applications are emerging around the world in the form of machine-assisted rehabilitation at the University of Utah and robotic ear surgery drills at the ARTORG Center in Switzerland.

Unfolded robot

“Given the state of MRI machines and the ability to look inside the body, using this way of working from the inside is an interesting topic,” says Dr. Rus. “Just think about where we were with medicine 25 years ago—who knows what the tools will be like in 20 years’ time.”