Pangolin, the inspiration for a medical robot
Robot is made of metal and yet is soft and flexible

Date:
June 20, 2023
Source:
Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
Summary:
Scientists have developed a magnetically controlled soft medical
robot with a unique, flexible structure inspired by the body of
a pangolin. The robot is freely movable despite built-in hard
metal components. Thus, depending on the magnetic field, it can
adapt its shape to be able to move and can emit heat when needed,
allowing for functionalities such as selective cargo transportation
and release as well as mitigation of bleeding.


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FULL STORY ========================================================================== Pangolins are fascinating creatures. This animal looks like a walking pine cone, as it is the only mammal completely covered with hard scales. The
scales are made of keratin, just like our hair and nails. The scales
overlap and are directly connected to the underlying soft skin layer. This special arrangement allows the animals to curl up into a ball in case
of danger.

While pangolins have many other unique features, researchers from
the Physical Intelligence Department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, which is led by Prof. Dr. Metin
Sitti, were particularly fascinated by how pangolins can curl up their scale-covered bodies in a flash. They took the animal as a model and
developed a flexible robot made of soft and hard components that, just
like the animal, become a sphere in the blink of an eye - - with the
additional feature that the robot can emit heat when needed.

In a research paper to be published in Nature Communications on 20 June
2023, first author Ren Hao Soon and his colleagues present a robot design
that is no more than two centimeters long and consists of two layers:
a soft layer made of a polymer studded with small magnetic particles
and a hard component made of metal elements arranged in overlapping
layers. Thus, although the robot is made of solid metal components,
it is still soft and flexible for use inside the human body.

When the robot is exposed to a low-frequency magnetic field, the
researchers can roll up the robot and move it back and forth as they
wish. The metal elements stick out like the animal's scales, without
hurting any surrounding tissue. Once it is rolled up, the robot can
transport particles such as medicines. The vision is that such a small
machine will one day travel through our digestive system, for example.

Double useful: freely movable and hot When the robot is exposed to a high-frequency magnetic field, it heats up to over 70oC thanks to the
built-in metal. Thermal energy is used in several medical procedures,
such as treating thrombosis, stopping bleeding and removing tumor
tissue. Untethered robots that can move freely, even though they are
made of hard elements such as metal and can also emit heat, are rare. The pangolin robot is therefore considered promising for modern medicine. It
could one day reach even the narrowest and most sensitive regions in the
body in a minimally invasive and gentle way and emit heat as needed. That
is a vision of the future. Already today, in a video, the researchers
are showing how they can flexibly steer the robot through animal tissue
and artificial organs.

* RELATED_TOPICS
o Plants_&_Animals
# Zoology # Behavioral_Science #
Animal_Learning_and_Intelligence # Agriculture_and_Food
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# Atmosphere # Weather # Acid_Rain # Recycling_and_Waste
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========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Max_Planck_Institute_for_Intelligent_Systems. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Ren Hao Soon, Zhen Yin, Metin Alp Dogan, Nihal Olcay Dogan,
Mehmet Efe
Tiryaki, Alp Can Karacakol, Asli Aydin, Pouria Esmaeili-Dokht,
Metin Sitti. Pangolin-inspired untethered magnetic robot for
on-demand biomedical heating applications. Nature Communications,
2023; 14 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38689-x ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230620113819.htm

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