Robot tentacle could improve lung investigation

A new surgical robot can travel deep into the lungs and could revolutionise diagnosis and treatment, British developers say.

The engineers at the University of Leeds describe the robot as a tentacle, controlled by magnets.

It is 2mm in diameter and can penetrate 37% deeper into bronchial tubes than standard equipment, they report – with less tissue damage.

So far, the device has been tested on cadavers. The researchers say it could lead to treatments that are less invasive than current ones.

Researcher Dr Giovanni Pittiglio said: “Our goal was, and is, to bring curative aid with minimal pain for the patient.

“Remote magnetic actuation enabled us to do this using ultra-soft tentacles which can reach deeper, while shaping to the anatomy and reducing trauma.”

Researcher supervisor Professor Pietro Valdastri said: “This is a really exciting development.

“This new approach has the advantage of being specific to the anatomy, softer than the anatomy and fully-shape controllable via magnetics. These three main features have the potential to revolutionize navigation inside the body.”

Personalized magnetic tentacles for targeted photothermal cancer therapy in peripheral lungs Nature Engineering Communications 27 July 2023

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