To find and Treat Cancer, scientists have created tiny robotic tentacles that enter the lungs.
The ultra-soft gadget has a diameter of only 2.4 mm. It travels from the tip of a bronchoscope, a skinny tube containing a light and camera, to the outermost part of the lungs.
Magnets adjust the robot’s form to the anatomy of the body while it is travelling. Its shape, location, and form are all communicated to a clinician as it travels. An implanted laser fibre can administer targeted therapy after it has arrived at its destination.
The Robot was developed in the University of Leeds’ STORM lab, where the technique was tested on a cadaver. They found that it may penetrate 37% deeper than traditional equipment, yet causing less tissue damage.
The team aspires to revolutionise lung cancer therapy in the future. It alone accounts for about 34,800 losses annually in the UK and has the loftiest cancer mortality rate in the world.Currently, treatment is administered through intrusive methods including surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation.
Surgical intervention is the gold standard of treatment for early- stagenon-small cell lung cancer, which makes up around 84 of cases.This often entails taking out a sizable quantity of lung tissue, which isn’t advised for everyone and might be bad for pulmonary function.
The robot could provide a less intrusive option. The administration strategy, according to the researchers, can increase accuracy and safety while lowering pain, discomfort, and recuperation time. Additionally, it could enable treatment to be restricted to malignant cells only, freeing good tissue and organs to continue functioning properly.
Dr Giovanni Pittiglio, the report’s co-author, noted that their aim was and still is to provide the patient with therapeutic assistance while minimising their agony. “We were able to do this using ultra-soft tentacles that can reach deeper while moulding to the anatomy and reducing trauma, thanks to remote magnetic actuation.”
