MedTech Dive January 26, 2023
Dive Brief:
- Researchers have combined mouse muscle tissue, a 3D-printed scaffold and microelectronics to create small remote-controlled robots.
- Writing in Science Robotics, the collaborators describe the creation of centimeter-scale robots. The robots walk when LEDs stimulate light-sensitive engineered muscle and cause contractions that move polymer legs.
- The design allows the integration of sensors and other components that could eventually equip the robots to detect biomarkers of disease, carry out biopsies or perform surgery.
Dive Insight:
The paper is the culmination of more than a decade of research into biobots. Rashid Bashir, a professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, demonstrated walking biobots in 2012 and light-activated biobots in 2016. The latest advance enables the remote control of the...
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