Imagine if a doctor could remotely do a non-invasive, highly precise medical procedure on her patients using a tiny robot, or microrobot. With a device researchers from SMU and George Washington University created, that is one step closer to reality. “Using what we call a magnetic tweezer system, an operator will be able to precisely manipulate tiny robots in a liquid environment, even from long distances,” said SMU nanotechnology expert MinJun Kim, one of the creators of the device. “The system provides real-time feedback through a haptic device, allowing the operator to feel forces acting on the microrobots as they move or interact with their surroundings.” This technology could also potentially be used for safe and precise drug delivery as well, said Kim, the Robert C. Womack Chair Professor in the Lyle School of Engineering at SMU and principal investigator of the BAST Lab. “Since the microrobots are manipulated externally using magnetic fields, there’s no need for invasive tools or procedures,” he said. “This allows treatments to be delivered exactly where they are needed in a controlled and non-invasive way, reducing risks to surrounding healthy areas.”

Full research : Using nanotechnology, scientists develop ‘Magnetic tweezers’ which make remote non-invasive surgery safer and easy.