A California-based start-up came up with a technology that delivers miniature robots deep within the human brain to cure illnesses that are unreachable using existing means.
Bionaut Labs intends to conduct in two years its first human clinical trials for its small implantable robots, which can be precisely steered around the brain with magnets.
Along with the famed Max Planck research institutions in Germany, scientists decided on magnetism to drive the robot since they are non-harmful to the human body.
Magnetic coils installed from outside a patient's skull are connected to a computer, which can remotely and precisely navigate the micro-robot into the damaged area of the brain.
The US Food and Drug Administration approved the company for clinical studies including the treatment of Dandy-Walker Syndrome as well as malign gliomas - cancerous brain tumors that are commonly regarded as incurable.
It employs electromagnetism for propulsion rather than optical or ultrasonic approaches because it is less harmful to the body, and it uses magnetic coils outside the skull that guide the robots through a computer interface.
Unlike an MRI, the entire system is readily transportable and consumes 10 to 100 times less energy.
The robot, a few-millimeters-long-metal cylinder, will gently follow a pre-programmed route, as per the design.
When it gets close to its goal, the robot accelerates like a rocket until it penetrates fluid-filled tumors inside the brain. If the procedure is effective, it might be used in curing Dandy-Walker Syndrome, a rare brain abnormality that affects children.
Golf-ball-size cysts can form in patients, swelling and increasing pressure on the brain, causing a slew of serious neurological disorders.
Bionaut Labs has previously conducted tests on big mammals like sheep and pigs using the robot, and the data confirms that the technology is safe for us humans, according to Bionaut Labs co-founder and CEO Michael Shpigelmacher.
If authorized, the robots might provide significant improvements over current therapies for brain illnesses, especially in terms of the trajectory the technology can achieve.
"Today, most surgeries and interventions of the brain are confined to straight lines - if you don't have a straight route to the aim, you're trapped, and you're not going to get there," Shpigelmacher explained.
Last year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave Bionaut Labs permits to open the way for clinical trials to treat Dandy-Walker Syndrome, as well as malignant gliomas, which are cancerous brain tumors that are frequently thought to be difficult to cure.
