VIDEO: Small robots "cross an eyeball" to administer medications

Last Friday, a team led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Germany, published in Science Advances a study on the possibility of new ophthalmic clinical intervention techniques. For its broadcast didactically, this Wednesday a video explaining what was sought, in graphic form, was published in the journal Science,

The study reflects a research work done by revolutionary nanobots, realized with 3D printers. , with the aim of improving the treatment of eye diseases. It is indicated in the distant future that these robots can be used to transport and administer drugs in the human eye and thus prevent disease.

"Micropopulsoros" are 200 times smaller than the width of human hair and have a spiral tail that facilitates travel through glbady gelatin. After testing them up to 10,000 times in eyes taken from pigs, the researchers stated that they could be more effective and faster than eye drops or injections. The investigation revealed that they had pbaded through the eye of the pig 10 times faster than particles of the same size.

Made of tadpoles, they are covered with a sliding coating to be able to move without damaging the eyeball. Drugs could be introduced and could be used to treat glaucoma or diabetic retinopathy.

Currently, the most common techniques are intravitreal injections or ophthalmic drops. Although they are effective, they require a lot of time for the drug to reach the center of the problem.

Its most immediate projection

One of the most common diseases requiring an injection in the eye is age-related macular degeneration. caused by diabetes, which blocks the blood vessels or determines their abnormal increase.

Made of nickel and driven by an external magnetic field, small robots should also be injected, but would not cover everything. the surface of the eye. They would go directly to the origin of the disease. By means of a live scanner indicating their position, the doctors could have enough control to guide them in all the necessary directions.

They have not yet been tested on living beings, for which they will be used first. term to animals before doing it in humans.