Pneumonia can be fatal.
A new study on mice suggests a path to a mind-blowingly cool treatment called microbots.
According to a new study published in the journal Nature Materials, the University of California-Davis has developed tiny bots that can swim around a mouse's lungs. The hope is that the tech could be tested in humans someday.
The process of making the bots is fascinating. They're built using antibiotic-filled cells to move about the lungs. A type of white blood cell is used to make the spheres that are used to cover the algae cells. The bots degrade naturally once they've run their course.
"Our goal is to do targeted drug delivery into more challenging parts of the body, like the lungs," the study co-author said. We want to do it in a way that is easy to use and lasts a long time.
In order to show the effectiveness of the algae bots, the scientists tested them in rodents with a serious and often fatal disease that can lead to death in humans. The control group of rodents received a serving of the bots through a tube to their lungs.
It was striking. The mice that were not treated died, but the ones that were treated survived through 30 days. To get the same antibiotic efficacy through an IV, you would have to increase the dose by over 3000 percent.
Some antibiotics will get into the lungs with an IV injection. Victor Nizet, one of the study authors, said that current antibiotics don't work as well as needed, leading to high mortality rates in the sickest patients. The data shows that the microrobots could improve antibiotic penetration and save more patients' lives.
This is still a proof of concept. It's fascinating to see new developments in the field, like microrobots that might be able to save you from life threatening lung infections in a few years.
Pneumonia from the lungs of mice has been successfully cleared by tiny robots.
There's more on microbots. There are tiny robot shapeshifters that will brush and floss for you.
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