Scientists test microscopic glass robots to target cancer cells

It is hoped that in the future "microrollers" could detect cancerous tissue in patients and release chemotherapy drugs to improve therapy
Artist's impression showing how microrollers could help shuttle medicine through the bloodstream into hard-to-reach parts of the body
Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems

Microscopic robots made from glass and gold that are able to move against the flow of blood are being developed to help deliver chemotherapy drugs fighting cancer cells.

Scientists are building the micro-bots to help shuttle medicines into “hard-to-access regions inside the human body” for more effective disease targeting.

The tiny spherical devices, called microrollers, were developed by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany.

Microrollers are just three to 7.8 micrometres in size, only slightly smaller than human red blood cells.

The project was inspired by the human body’s own design of white blood cells, which are able to run along blood vessel walls.

The glass microparticles carrying the medicines are half-coated in a thin magnetic nanofilm that is made of gold and nickel, while the second half is coated in doxorubicin, a chemotherapy drug, and molecules that target cancer cells.

Trials were undertaken using mouse blood and artificial channels lined with the type of cells coasting the walls of human blood vessels.

Medicine-packed microrollers were then exposed to a collection of breast cancer cells and healthy tissue.

They were found to effectively attach themselves to the cancer cells.

Ultra-violet light was then shone to release the doxorubicin and magnetic fields helped to steer the directional movement of the microrollers at a speed of 600 micrometres per second.

The study was led by Dr Yunus Alapan and Ugur Bozuyuk, and supervised by Professor Metin Sitti, director of the Physical Intelligence Department at the institute.

Their research paper, published in Science Robotics journal, said: “Mobile microrobots offer great promise for minimally invasive targeted medical theranostic applications at hard-to- access regions inside the human body.

“The circulatory system represents the ideal route for navigation.”

Now the team is investigating further tests that include methods to aid the drug’s release, such as heat.

They also plan to construct the microrollers from biodegradable materials.

Professor Sitti said: “We plan to further develop such microrollers to detect cancer, deliver drugs and conduct targeted therapy in the vascular system.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in