Originally published January 25 2005
Tiny robots use living tissue to enhance capabilities
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Researchers in Ontario and Los Angeles are growing animal tissue onto robotic frameworks and silicon chips to expand the capabilities of small experimental robots. The technique involves growing the cells onto the structure, rather than taking tissue from a living animal. Experiments have included using muscle cells to move a robotic body and using a glucose solution as "food" for the cells rather than an electrical power system.
By growing rat tissue onto a microscopic silicon chip, scientists have created tiny robots that can move using their own muscle power.
The robots, which are less than a millimetre long, are the first to include such living cells as complex as muscle tissue, researchers say.
The self-assembling cells were melded onto a tiny robotic frame, resulting in a device that could move like primitive legs without an external power source.
In one experiment, the team fed a glucose solution to rat heart cells in a culture mimicking a living system.
Muscle contractions propelled the tiny structure to shuffle along.
Carlo Montemagno and his colleagues at the University of California Los Angeles said the technique involved growing the muscle tissue onto the silicon structure, instead of dissecting muscle from a living animal.
Under a microscope, a second device resembles a pair of tiny frog legs.
"A microdevice had two 'legs' extending from the body at 45-degree angles; each leg had a 'foot' extending at a 45-degree angle," the researchers wrote in the journal Nature Materials.
The versatile system may lead to the integration of cells and tissue with a variety of other microstructures, they added.
For example, microscopic devices like mini electrical generators could power computer chips.
Someday, the system could also have medical applications, such as a muscle-based way to stimulate nerves, allowing people who are paralysed to breathe without a ventilator.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml