MIT engineers have developed a magnetically steerable, thread-like robot that can actively glide through narrow, winding pathways, such as the labyrinthine vasculature of the brain.
The team showed that the robots can smoothly navigate through a series of closely spaced hoops. The devices can also glide through twisting passageways simulating blood vessels in a life-sized replica of the human brain. Watch the video from MIT for more info or read more at MIT website.
In the near future the Robo-Thread thread may be paired with existing endovascular technologies that can allow doctors to remotely guide the robot through a patient’s brain vessels to quickly treat blockages and lesions.
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