Ont. researchers create plant-based micro-robots to help with medical procedures – CTV
Oct. 26, 2023
A team of researchers at the University of Waterloo have created advanced materials that will become the foundation for a new era of soft medical micro-robots.
Chemical engineering professor Hamed Shahsavan is leading the way with these tiny robots, which have the potential to conduct medical procedures such as biopsies and cell and tissue transports in a minimally invasive way without the syringes or catheters usually needed.
For now, they’re a maximum of one-centimetre long and here’s the catch – they’re plant-based.
In creating the devices, Shahsavan said the team asked themselves: “How can we shoot the surgeons inside the body?”
The answer involved making robots out of advanced hydrogel composites that include sustainable cellulose nanoparticles derived from plants.
“They are not toxic. They don’t show any immune response or foreign body response,” Shahsavan said.
