Scientists Develop Nanorobots That Travel through Your Bloodstream

Their purpose? To eliminate bacteria and detoxify blood.

The nanorobots were coated with a hybrid skin made out of platelet and blood cell membranes which protect the nanorobots from having proteins attaching to them. At the same time, each hybrid skin ‘ingredient’ takes hold of bacteria and toxins. The nanorobots are guided by ultrasound, which can also help them completely eliminate unwanted objects from the body.

The researchers have been quoted in Science Mag as saying that this stage marks only the beginning of a robotic broad-spectrum detoxification process:

“The nanorobots resulted in a dynamic robotic system for efficient isolation and simultaneous removal of different biological threats, an important step toward the creation of a broad-spectrum detoxification robotic platform.”

For now, the robots have only been tested on laboratory blood samples, but after more extensive testing, the scientists hope have them approved for human trials.

Slowly but surely, it seems that robotics medicine as a separate field is becoming less of a science fiction device and more of a reality.