Tiny robots made from the body’s own cells could be a new way to repair damaged tissue and treat disease.
This technology also opens up the prospect of patients having their own ‘personal’ robot to seek out and repair any damage.
New research has found that microscopic ‘anthrobots’, created using cells from an adult windpipe, are able to heal damaged brain tissue in the lab.
This discovery could lead to living robots being used to clear clogged arteries, repair faulty spinal cord and nerve damage to the retina at the back of the eye, and deliver drugs to specific parts of the body affected by cancer or infection, the U.S. researchers said.
Scientists are already investigating the use of miniature robots in healthcare – to perform colonoscopies, stem bleeding and diagnose and treat disease, for instance. But to date, this has mainly involved man-made robots programmed to move around the body and carry out specific tasks.
Tiny robots made from the body’s own cells could be a new way to repair damaged tissue and treat disease (Stock photo)
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The new research suggests that similar tiny robots could be made with human cells, too. This would have huge advantages because the body is unlikely to reject robots made with the patient’s own cells.
To create the anthrobots – which simply means human robots – scientists at Tufts University in Massachusetts took cells from the surface of patients’ trachea, or windpipe.
These cells were chosen because they contain cilia – tiny hair-like structures that wave back and forth and catch dust and debris in the airways so that they can be expelled from the body by coughing or clearing the throat. The idea is that the cilia might help the cells move.
The researchers wanted to see whether, when taken out of their usual environment, these cells could reboot and find ways of carrying out new tasks in the body, such as seeking out and healing damaged tissue.
First, single trachea cells were allowed to grow and multiply in the laboratory for two weeks.
They were then transferred to another dish, to conditions that encouraged the cilia to face outwards – rather than lying flat – so they act like legs to move.
The researchers were surprised to discover that within a few days, the anthrobots – made up of a few hundred cells – started to move around in the petri dish, with their cilia acting like oars.
There were different patterns of movement: some cells moved in straight lines; others in tight circles; some combined these movements or just wiggled on the spot.
The researchers then added them to a layer of human nerve cells in a petri dish that had been scratched with a thin metal rod – creating a ‘wound’ or tissue damage.
The findings, published in the journal Advanced Science, showed that when placed in the damaged nerve cells, the anthrobots got to work, clumping together to form a ‘superbot’ – and this encouraged the growth of new cells in the damaged area.
Within three days, the researchers found that the damage had healed completely.
Exactly how these robots promote healing in human tissue is not understood, but scientists say the anthrobots ‘could be personalised for each patient’ to treat disease – with the idea being that different cells from the patient might be able to perform different functions.
New research has found that microscopic ‘anthrobots’, created using cells from an adult windpipe, are able to heal damaged brain tissue in the lab (Stock photo)
‘It is fascinating and completely unexpected that normal tracheal cells, without modifying their DNA, can move on their own and encourage nerve-cell growth across a region of damage,’ says Michael Levin, a professor of biology at the university.
‘We’re now looking at the mechanism and asking what these constructs can do.’
Once they have been injected into the body and done their job, the anthrobots naturally die after a few weeks and are absorbed by the body, the researchers said. And in future, other features could be added to the robots so they can carry out different tasks.
Dr Meysam Keshavarz, a research associate at Imperial College London, who is studying the use of micro-robots in medicine, described the findings as a ‘stepping stone towards personalised medicine’.
However, it may be another ‘ten to 15 years before it is available’.
He said: ‘This is currently a proof of concept and in the early stage of development. However, the integration of human-derived cells into micro-robots could lead to more personalised medicine, as the patient’s immune response would not be an issue.’
