Chinese scientists have created a magnetic microfiber robot that they say can reduce the risk of brain aneurysm bleeding and "starve" brain tumors.
Scientists say the tiny worm-like robot has been designed to crawl into patients' brains, and they claim it could revolutionize surgery and save thousands of lives.
Scientists add that the almost microscopic "microfibres" could reduce the risk of brain aneurysm bleeding and "starve" brain tumors, forcing them to shrink.
The tiny robot is inserted into people's brains using a thin, flexible catheter tube. Shaped like a snail, the robot, less than half a millimeter long, will "crawl" through the brain.
Doctors will control the small robot using magnets, and the flexible, changing shape will allow the robot to plug problematic blood vessels.
It would then be able to repair the aneurysm or "starve" the tumors.
The robot was developed by Chinese scientists from several universities, including Wuhan, Hefei and Shanghai.
Aneurysms and brain tumors are the leading causes of death worldwide.
These are conditions that require extensive and complex treatment procedures.
One of the first steps doctors take to treat such diseases is to cut off blood flow by inserting a thin tube into the targeted area and blocking the blood vessels.
However, experts say this method is limited by the "poor stability and guideability" of the tube that is inserted into the brain.
They said it also exposes surgeons to radiation for long periods, as the operation is performed manually under X-rays.
So they believe that a small robot is the best way forward in this kind of hard-on-the-brain work
The small robot can change its size by elongating or contracting, and can be directed up and down using magnetic fields.
Its coiled shape allows for greater control and precision than other traditional methods used to treat these conditions.
It can then be guided by doctors who will be able to monitor its movement using X-ray imaging.
Once the robot reaches the target, it can perform embolization to reduce bleeding from the aneurysm.
To treat brain tumors, advanced robots can send molecules into a blood vessel branch to “starve the tumor for rapid removal.”
Cutting off blood flow to the tumor causes it to stop growing, and can even shrink the tumor by killing cells, according to the research paper.
During testing on a prototype vessel system, the development team found that these robots had a particle blocking rate of up to 88%.
The robots were tested on the hind legs of rabbits, where the robots continued to block blood flow, and tests on the rabbits' organs found "no inflammation or pathological abnormalities."
While scientists cautioned that the robot is still in the early stages of development, they concluded that the robot has huge potential to revolutionize brain surgery.
"We envision that our soft magnetic microfibers will pave the way for unrestricted robotic embolization of cerebral aneurysms and brain tumors in the future," the scientists said.
The study was published in the journal Science Robotics.
Artificial intelligence is on the cusp of a breakthrough that could allow people and animals to talk to each other
Experts predict that artificial intelligence will allow people to communicate with household pets and even wild animals in the future.
Typically, researchers and experts around the world use so-called “digital bioacoustics” (small, portable digital recorders) to capture sounds, movements and behaviors of animals that are too quiet or too subtle for humans to detect.
These databases will be used to train artificial intelligence to decode this language of communication and translate it into what a human can understand.
Experts expect that projects such as the “Land Types Project” will achieve significant progress over the next 12 to 36 months.
Current Land Species Project experiments include attempts to map the vocal repertoire of crows, as well as another experiment aimed at generating new sounds that birds can understand.
Lincoln University researchers are also using artificial intelligence to classify and understand cat expressions. The new artificial intelligence model also aims to translate facial expressions and dog barking.
Experts also talked about bats having a very complex language, especially as they argue about food with each other, and mother bats use “baby language” when communicating with their young.
They explained that “deep learning” is capable of decoding bat language (which is largely based on ultrasound).
Microphones on buoys and robotic fish attempt to detect the "voices" of sperm whales, which are the world's largest predators and locate their food using clicks, but they also use a shorter series of clicks called a coda to communicate with each other.
Experts aim to implant microphones on the bodies of whales to capture huge amounts of data, with the aim of using machine learning to reveal what the huge animals are saying.