Scientists develop robotic thread which could treat clots in the brain

A group of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineers have created a robotic thread – similar to a worm – which could soon be utilised to treat blockages and clots in the brain.

According to reports, the thread-like robotic worm can travel through the brain’s blood vessels to deliver drugs for clots and treat blockages and lesions.

In a paper titled Ferromagnetic soft continuum robots published in the peer-reviewed research journal Science Robotics, it explained how the “magnetically steerable, hydrogel-coated robotic thread” is controlled by magnets.

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This will enable doctors and surgeons to guide it remotely from any location.

Professor of mechanical engineering at Seoul National University Kyujin Cho said: “One of the challenges in surgery has been to be able to navigate through complicated blood vessels in the brain, which has a very small diameter, where commercial catheters can’t reach.

“This research has shown potential to overcome this challenge and enable surgical procedures in the brain without open surgery,” he added.

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