MicroRobots Made From Green Aglae Increase Survival Rate Of Lung Cancer By 40%
Nanoengineers are creating a new and advanced treatment approach with microrobots. These tiny robots offer a more effective solution than traditional pills or IVs. Nonoengineers from the University of California San Diego have created tiny robots that can deliver cancer medication directly into the lungs. Stopping cancer from spreading, called metastasis, is key to fighting the disease. The lungs are a common target for cancer cells, making this innovation especially important.
Microrobots
A study published in Science Advances said, “Lungs represent the most prominent target organ for metastasis.” The University of California San Diego reported that microrobots successfully treated pneumonia in mice’s lungs more effectively than traditional antibiotic IV injections.
Pneumonia
In a study with mice, microrobots effectively cleared pneumonia-causing bacteria from the lungs, leading to a 100% survival rate. In comparison, all untreated mice died from the infection within three days.
Innovative Microrobots Combat Lung Infections
The microrobots are created from algae cells coated with antibiotic-filled nanoparticles. The algae enable the microrobots to move, allowing them to swim through the lungs and deliver antibiotics directly to a larger number of bacteria.
Specialized Nanoparticles
The antibiotic nanoparticles are made from tiny biodegradable polymer spheres coated with neutrophil cell membranes, a type of white blood cell. These special membranes absorb and neutralize inflammatory molecules from bacteria and the body’s immune system.
Inflammation
This ability allows the microrobots to reduce harmful inflammation. As a result, they become more effective at fighting lung infections.
Drug Delivering Robots
The researchers have developed tiny drug-delivering robots that can safely treat bacterial infections in the stomach and blood of live animals. Their latest advancement focuses on treating bacterial lung infections.
The Goal
Liangfang Zhang, a nanoengineering professor at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, said, “Our goal is to do targeted drug delivery into more challenging parts of the body, like the lungs. And we want to do it in a way that is safe, easy, biocompatible and long lasting. That is what we’ve demonstrated in this work.”
Type Of Pneumonia
The team treated mice with severe, potentially fatal pneumonia caused by the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa using microrobots. This type of pneumonia often affects patients on mechanical ventilation in intensive care units.
Infections Cleared
The researchers delivered the microrobots to the mice’s lungs using a tube inserted into the windpipe. After one week, the infections were completely cleared. All mice treated with microrobots survived beyond 30 days, whereas untreated mice died within three days.
Most Recent Study
In the most recent study, researchers discovered that “treated mice experienced a median survival time of 37 days, an improvement over the 27-day median survival time observed in untreated mice, as well as mice that received either the drug alone or drug-filled nanoparticles without algae.”
Avoid Detection
The engineers designed the microrobots to avoid detection by the immune system. They coated the swimming therapeutic microrobots with a protective layer of red blood cell membranes.
Side Effects
The drug distribution improved, as did the retention time, allowing the engineers to reduce the required drug dosage. This reduction minimized the drug’s side effects without compromising its lifesaving aspects.
Artificial Intelligence Can Now Interpret Dog Barks
