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[[A mechanical engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin is creating robots that are not visible to the naked eye with the goal that one day they will work as an autonomous team treating tumors in the human body. Deana Mitchell has the story.]]
LanguageEnglish
Transcript/ScriptLogOn: Nano Robots (TV/R)
HEADLINE: LogOn Future of Surgery: Nanorobots Go to Work in the Body
TEASER: Engineers are developing autonomous nanorobots that can swim through the body to remove cancerous tumors
DATE: 5/17/2022 at 11:45am
BYLINE: Deana Mitchell
DATELINE: AUSTIN, Texas
VIDEOGRAPHER: Deana Mitchell
PRODUCER: Deana Mitchell
SCRIPT EDITORS: Michelle Quinn, MAS
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO X
TRT: 1:56
VID APPROVED BY: Amy Reifenrath
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: )
((INTRO:))
[[A mechanical engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin is creating robots that are not visible to the naked eye with the goal that one day they will work as an autonomous team treating tumors in the human body. Deana Mitchell has the story.]]
((NARRATOR))
Yuebing Zheng, a mechanical engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin, is working with his team to create tiny robots - substantially smaller than the tip of a pen – that will swim through the human body and autonomously repair problems like a cancerous tumor.
((Yuebing Zheng, University of Texas at Austin))
“Hopefully one day they can get into our body and can do surgery or detect where those tumor cells are, so it can be non-invasive therapy for us.”
((NARRATOR)) This may sound like science fiction. But scientists worldwide are working to make it a reality. These robots enter the body through an injection or by swallowing them. Once given a target like a tumor, Zheng says they will communicate with each other to work collectively to achieve a goal. Some researchers use ultrasound waves or chemical reactions to move the nanobots.
((GFX))
Zheng’s team is using optics, light in the form of a high-powered laser beam, to manipulate the tiny robots, which are made of gold, silicon and polystyrene.
Zheng’s goal is for the “micro/nanorobots,” as he calls them, to learn to work together, much like a school of fish.
((Yuebing Zheng, University of Texas at Austin))
“How can we make a lot of these different type of microrobots start to have interactions, so that they can form a group of behavior, a coordinated behavior.”
((NARRATOR))
Zheng compared the robots to self-driving cars that have a destination but must learn the rules of the road… and the dangers.
((Yuebing Zheng, University of Texas at Austin))
“For them, it’s to try to avoid the traffic of the immune system in the body.”
((NARRATOR)) ((GFX))
And the future roles of the micro nanorobots will not be limited to the human body. Zheng says they might one day be placed in a lake to swim around and clean up pollutants.
Clinical studies in humans are scheduled to begin in the next few years, so it may not be too long before nanorobots are performing surgeries from within.
Deana Mitchell for VOA News, Austin, Texas
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Austin, Texas
Embargo DateMay 17, 2022 16:58 EDT
BylineDeana Mitchell for VOA News, Austin, Texas
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
