Hong Kong University Lab Invents Human Hair-Sized Robot for Cell Transfer
Dou Shicong
DATE:  Jun 29 2018
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Hong Kong University Lab Invents Human Hair-Sized Robot for Cell Transfer Hong Kong University Lab Invents Human Hair-Sized Robot for Cell Transfer

(Yicai Global) June 29 -- A team of researchers from the City University of Hong Kong has designed a miniature robot with the size of a human hair to deliver cells inside a human body.

In the future, a micro-robot can be injected into a human body through a blood vessel and delivered to a designated location with the help of a magnetic field to release functional cells into tissue, state-owned Xinhua News Agency reported Sun Dong, director of the Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at the university, as saying.

The research team tested the device with a zebrafish. After injecting the robot loaded with stem cells into the fish, the group could control the device by using a magnetic field. The results of the study were published in the US publication Science Robotics.

The robot has a spine structure that acts as a point of cell attachment, dramatically increasing its cell load capacity, Sun added. The device's surface is covered with a layer of nickel and titanium, which can be used to control its movements.

Editor: Emmi Laine

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Keywords:   City University of Hong Kong,Science Robotics,Cell Transportation,Functional Cells,Medical,Robots,AI