Scientists have developed a tiny, ingestible 3D-printed snake-like robot that can navigate through the small intestines. The robot could one day be used to visualise the digestive system in real time.
SINGLE ACTUATOR WAVE-LIKE ROBOT :
(i) A tiny, swallowable robot that snakes its way through the small intestines could one day be used to actively visualize the digestive system.
(ii) The robot, called SAW (single actuator wave-like robot), moves in a wave-like motion and can travel through the extremely squishy environment of the small intestine, researchers said.
(iii) The external shape of the robot is a 2D projection of a rotating helix. The result is a continuously moving wave.
(iv) In tests, it seems to move incredibly fast and can cross a wide array of terrains, from water to rough, rocky soil.
(ii) The robot, called SAW (single actuator wave-like robot), moves in a wave-like motion and can travel through the extremely squishy environment of the small intestine, researchers said.
(iii) The external shape of the robot is a 2D projection of a rotating helix. The result is a continuously moving wave.
(iv) In tests, it seems to move incredibly fast and can cross a wide array of terrains, from water to rough, rocky soil.
Why snake-like Robot?
(a) The scientists are hoping to create an ingestible robot that could carry a camera through the small intestines, which could ultimately be used for colonoscopies. Currently, endoscopes can access only the large intestines.
(b) There are pill cameras that can reach the small intestines, but they float passively through the digestive system, and take typically take 12 hours to travel its entirety.
(c) The pill cameras can sometimes get stuck at certain points in the intestines, at which point the battery dies, leaving no data for a doctor to analyze. Passive camera pills also can't take tissue samples.
(d) The simplest version of the robot would hold a camera and could be steered by doctors through the intestines to look at certain spots.
(b) There are pill cameras that can reach the small intestines, but they float passively through the digestive system, and take typically take 12 hours to travel its entirety.
(c) The pill cameras can sometimes get stuck at certain points in the intestines, at which point the battery dies, leaving no data for a doctor to analyze. Passive camera pills also can't take tissue samples.
(d) The simplest version of the robot would hold a camera and could be steered by doctors through the intestines to look at certain spots.
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