Students were hesitant when Deblina Sarkar asked them to name her lab's new invention the "Cell Rover". She says that they were against it because it seemed too cool. The MIT researcher wanted the device's name to evoke exploration. The inside of a living cell is where this rover will go.
Recent engineering advances have enabled scientists to shrink electronics down to the cellular scale, with hopes of manipulating individual cells. Communication with devices this small can be very difficult, and a rover like this one would need to receive instructions and transmit information. It's a challenge to miniaturize an antenna to fit inside a cell phone. The problem is caused by the waves that are used in conventional antennas to transmit and receive data The resonant frequencies are the same as the antenna's actual length. Waves with shorter wavelength have higher frequencies because of their mathematical relationship. Subcellular antennas need frequencies in the microwave range because they are so small. These signals are similar to the beams in a kitchen microwave. They believe they have a solution. A new antenna design is described in a Nature Communications paper. A functioning antenna could help scientists power and communicate with small sensors within the cell, which could lead to new medical treatments.
The experimental antenna was made from a material that can change shape when exposed to a magnetic field. The researchers chose an alloy of iron, nickel, Boron, andMolybdenum, which is already used in other kinds of sensors. When an alternating-current magnetic field is applied to this antenna, the north and south poles of its molecule align themselves with the field. The antenna vibrates like a tuning fork. The antenna's motion changes its magnetic field in ways that a receiver can detect. Two-way communication is possible with this.
The Cell Rover is different from a conventional antenna in that it is able to translate waves into acoustic waves. Jacob Robinson, a Rice University neuro engineer who was not involved in the study, said that the antenna's resonance was based on the wavelength of sound. When waves have a wavelength equal to its length, the Cell Rover hits its resonance Frequency, but the waves that cause this resonance are sound waves, which travel much slower than microwaves. Waves with the same wavelength have the same frequencies, but they have different speeds. Waves with frequencies outside the harmful microwave range can be used to signal the Cell Rover. Robinson thinks it's a clever approach.
The researchers found that the antenna of the Cell Rover was 10,000 times smaller than an equivalent antenna, which meant that it wouldn't kill cells. The egg cell of the African clawed frog is a model organisms. The researchers were able to pull the Cell Rover into the test cells using a magnet. The egg cells looked good under a microscope after they were inserted. The Cell Rover was able to send a signal out from the egg cell up to one kilometer away. They were able to distinguish the transmission signals of individual rovers by adding multiple different-sized Cell Rover to a single cell.
The prototypes of the Cell Rover were still large despite the fact that they had been shrunk. They were too large for many cell types. The scientists compared the operation of an antenna to the ones they tested. They have yet to build these hypothetical rovers. Robinson says the range will have to be increased to allow such devices to work. Robinson thinks more work needs to be done to addFunctionality They are not doing anything that is relevant.
The Cell Rover can work in principle, using it to send empty signals, and this type of transmission can be thought of as being static on a TV. They will outfit the rover with tiny instruments that can collect and convey information about the surroundings to figure out what kind of shows they can see. They could add a simple coating that would bind to the nearby ion or sphinx. The Cell Rover's mass would be changed by the substances that stick to the polymer. Researchers could measure the changes in a cell.
It is possible that a Cell Rover could be adapted for more complex applications. It could be possible to use such devices to destroy cancer cells, to alter signaling pathways in order to influence cell division, or to serve as a power source for other miniature devices. We can do a lot of things, but we can also do a lot of things. The Cell Rover would be able to analyze sensor data and modify the cellular environment with the help of tiny electronics. It will one day be able to make decisions autonomously. There are so many possibilities.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
