3D printing and biorobots from heart tissue

Scientists from the University of Illinois have taken another step forward in the field of creating biorobots, bringing closer the day when microscopic robots can travel through the human body, detecting and neutralizing toxins and tumors, and also help transport the medicine directly to its destination (for example, to damage to bone tissue , And so on).

To create these worm-shaped robots, 3D printing technology was used. A special gel was taken as the basis. Robots 5–10 mm long were printed, on the surface of which they then sowed the cells of the cardiac tissue of laboratory rats. The heart tissue spread along the hydrogel, and the cells began to contract (the energy source is the nutrient fluid), setting the robot itself in motion. The movement speed is about 236 micrometers per second, but scientists are trying to increase it.



Rashid Bashir, one of the engineers:

We are trying to replace heart cells with skeletal muscle cells, because the contraction of the heart tissue is spontaneous, and the skeletal muscles are more controlled. We have plans to establish their interaction with neurons, because then it will be possible to detect specific compounds, say, toxins. Or glucose. Once in the immediate vicinity of the toxin molecule, the robot will be able to release an antitoxin in its direction.

Bashir is convinced that 3D printing technology will once again help in creating biorobots.

There is a video of the biorobot movement on the PopularMechanics website , I can’t insert a link to their player here, but it looks interesting.



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