If you grew up in the 1990s, you might remember the Magic School Bus episode, "Inside Ralphie." When Ralphie falls ill, Ms. Frizzle and her students shrink their shapeshifting vehicle, fly into his body and track down the source of the infection.
In a recent study and without Ms. Frizzle, scientists have now invented a steerable microrobot that they hope can deliver cancer-treating drugs to tumors.
Cancer patients receive chemotherapy through IVs. But because the IV delivers the drugs to the entire body, treatment brings a deluge of side-effects. In the new study, researchers report that they can guide medicine-carrying microrobots inside the body using strap-on magnets and control drug delivery using a laser. If it works, they could target tumors precisely and reduce harmful side-effects.
“The therapeutic effects of medical microrobots in seeking and destroying tumor cells could be substantial,” says co-author Metin Sitti of the Max Planck Institute ...
