This Thread-Like Robot That Wiggles Through Blood Vessels Could Save Lives

Although the speed at which today's technology is developing may scare some people, it has a huge potential to create life-saving machines. This is one of them. The 'robo-thread' is a small, snake-like robot that can glide through the brain's blood vessels and deliver clot-reducing drugs to treat strokes or aneurysms. Although the idea of a robot snake crawling through your brain isn't the most pleasant of thoughts, this little robot is promising to save lives and replace open brain surgery.

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via News-Medical

Strokes are the number five cause of death in the United States, and a leading cause for disability. There are many things that people can do to reduce their risk of having a stroke, but when it happens, every second that passes becomes more dangerous for the victim. The sooner a stroke or aneurysm is treated, the less it is for the person to have permanent brain damage. Currently, the method for treating strokes is physically taxing for surgeons and exposes them to radiation from using a fluroscope, which images the blood vessels using X-Rays.
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via Telegraph

This isn't the first snake-like robot to be invented. Surgeons have been using robotic devices to help with heart surgery for around ten years. The surgeon can control the machine with a joystick as the foot-long robot gets into places too small for human hands. However, this robot cannot be used inside the brain as it is too big. The brain is much more intricate to perform surgery on than the heart.
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via Engadget

Engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology solved this dilemma by creating a "magnetically steerable, hydrogel-coated robotic thread." The core of the threat is made with nickel-titanium alloy, which is bendy and springy, while the outside layer is coasted with rubbery paste, which is embedded with magnetic particles. This layer is covered with hydrogel, which makes the wire smooth and friction-free. The robo-thread is controlled by magnets, and the surgeon can direct it from outside the operating room, protecting them from radiation. The robot is less than 1 mm wide.
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via Cheezburger

Although the robo-thread isn't ready for commercial use yet, its creators demonstrated it's dexterity by threading it through a number of hoops (much like threading a needle). They also created a life-size model of the brain's vessels filled with blood-like fluid and guided the robot through these narrow pathways (you can see this in the video below). This tiny invention could make huge changes to the world of brain surgery, and we've got a feeling that it's only getting started.