Scientists have created a tiny, scary crawling-like robot that they hope will travel through the human body to treat diseases.
Fabricated from gelatin, a 3D-printed device could eventually replace pills or intravenous injections that may cause problematic negative effects.
Driven by temperature changes, Gelbot appears like fruit gum in stark contrast to robots made almost entirely of hard materials equivalent to metals and plastics.
“It seems very simplistic, but it surely is an object that moves without batteries, without wiring, with none external power source – only on the swelling and contraction of the gel” – senior creator of the study, David Gracias of Johns Hopkins University, he said in an announcement.
The creation was awarded on Wednesday in Science Robotics journal.
![The little gelbots are made of gelatin.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/robot-disease-02-1.jpg?w=562)
“Our study demonstrates how manipulation of the shape, dimensions and patterns of gels can fine-tune the morphology to embody the sort of intelligence that permits locomotion,” added Gracias.
Previous research has shown that gels that swell or shrink in response to temperature can form intelligent structures.
The researchers are finding that they will move the robot forward and backward on flat surfaces, in addition to in certain directions with a wavy wave-like motion.
The hope is that these devices can deliver drugs directly to a tumor, blood clot or infection, leaving healthy tissue alone. Unlike swallowed pills or injected liquids, the creature would withhold the medicine until it reaches its destination.
One other advantage is that robots are low cost and simple to mass-produce. They may change the way doctors examine patients – serving as minimally invasive devices for biomedical diagnosis and therapy.
![Unlike swallowed pills or injected liquids, gelbots would hold back the medicine until it reaches its destination and releases the drug in high concentration.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/robot-disease-01-1.jpg?w=743)
As well as to the human body, Gracias could also see them getting used as marine robots to patrol and monitor the surface of the ocean to combat pollution.
Gracias, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, plans to train gelbots to crawl in response to changes in human biomarkers and biochemicals. She also intends to test other shapes and forms inspired by worms and marine organisms and place cameras and sensors on their bodies.
Also this yr, scientists created a Transformers-style robot inspired by the Japanese art of origami, which involves folding paper. Like gelbots, they’d deliver medicine directly to a tumor, blood clot, or infection, and study the inner workings of the body.
In 2020, researchers at Cornell University revealed that they are working on developing tiny microscopic machines with legs that would move inside the human body. Essentially minicomputers, these devices move using laser pulses and are sufficiently small to be at home next to the microorganisms that already live inside us.