Dr. Mini Robot will see you now
If you're really into robots, maybe it's time a robot got into you. Literally.
A tight fit for anyone's veins.
(Credit: The Daily Mail)This miniature robotic prototype developed by researchers at the Ritsumeikan University and the Shiga University of Medical Science in Japan can be inserted into a patient's body through a small incision.
The doctors use prior MRI imaging of a patient as a sort of internal Google Map. Once it's in there, the robot can be controlled by doctors outside the body to capture images, take tissue samples, deliver medicine, and even perform minor surgical procedures.
As advanced as the robot is, it uses old-school tech. A small cable connects it to a computer so it can communicate while it's in a patient's body, and doctors control it from outside the body with a magnetic field.
An amazing development to say the least, but the sheer size of the bot is enough to give anyone the heebie-jeebies. No worries. While it's in there, the robot can probably cure your heebie-jeebatic symptoms.
