Microscopic 3D Printed Robots May Help Deliver Medication Within Bloodstream

[Brian_Krassenstein]

While the research going on at ETH Zurich has been going on for years, many of us may find the idea of 3D printed micro-robots circulating medicine to targets inside our bodies to be quite a shocking and amazing idea. Headed in two teams by Professors Bradley Nelson and Christofer Hierold, the scientists have found a way to coat magnetized fabricated micro-actuators to work as cargo transporters within the body. Without the method they use, which is like microscopic 3D printing, they would not be able to make these micro-robots a reality. See more details in the full article: http://3dprint.com/25786/micro-robots-eth-zurich/


Below is a rendering of the micro-actuators:

[3dprintboard]

On Rachael Ray's food show they demoed a small pill like camera with a flashing strobe that takes 50k images while it travels through your digestive system (once swallowed). The Doctor's said it was in existence for over 10 years and the imaging capabilities improve every year. Diagnosis cost $800. Images were transmitted wireless to a laptop and then converted to a movie. The patient got a clean slate from mouth to exit!