Amazing stuff! This has probably enormous potential!
"A group of researchers ... has developed the world's first microrobot ("microbot") capable of navigating within groups of cells and stimulating individual cells. ... potential for new treatments of human diseases. ..."
"They are round, half as thick as a human hair, contain gold nanorods and fluorescent dye, and are surrounded by a biomaterial obtained from algae. They can be driven by laser light to move between cells. ... They are currently being used in vitro, outside the human body. ...
The entire system requires a ... laser to drive the 30-micrometer (µm), human-controlled microbots. Another special aspect: not only can the robots be heated. They also continually indicate their temperature. This is important because, along with the ability to find their way to individual cells, they are also designed to heat the locations of individual cells or cell groups. ..."
From the abstract:
"Here, the study presents a thermally activated cell-signal imaging (TACSI) microrobot, capable of photothermal actuation, sensing, and light-driven locomotion. The plasmonic soft microrobot is specifically designed for thermal stimulation of mammalian cells to investigate cell behavior under heat active conditions. Due to the integrated thermosensitive fluorescence probe, Rhodamine B, the system allows dynamic measurement of induced temperature changes. TACSI microrobots show excellent biocompatibility over 72 h in vitro, and they are capable of thermally activating single cells to cell clusters. Locomotion in a 3D workspace is achieved by relying on thermophoretic convection, and the microrobot speed is controlled within a range of 5–65 µm s−1. In addition, light-driven actuation enables spatiotemporal control of the microrobot temperature up to a maximum of 60 °C. Using TACSI microrobots, this study targets single cells within a large population, and demonstrates thermal cell stimulation using calcium signaling as a biological output. Initial studies with human embryonic kidney 293 cells indicate a dose dependent change in intracellular calcium content within the photothermally controlled temperature range of 37–57 °C."
Microrobots for the study of cells Opportunities for cancer treatment and wound healing
Figure 1 Schematic representation of TACSI microrobots.
Figure 2 TACSI microrobot fabrication and characterization.
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