ITMO: ITMO scientists develop elastic robots to treat thrombosis

Thrombosis is a condition when blood clots (thrombi) appear in blood vessels. They obstruct the blood flow by blocking veins. This leads to the clogging of vessels and may result in a stroke or heart attack that can be deadly.

Specialists at ITMO University’s ChemBio Cluster came up with a new minimally invasive method of treatment. It’s based on up to one-and-a-half centimeter big robots made from a soft magnetic composite material. This material consists of a soft elastomeric matrix with ferromagnetic particles and a temperature-responsive polymer placed inside it. Such a construction allows robots to move in a vein, change its form under the influence of a magnetic field, and seize thrombi in four minutes without damaging blood vessel walls.

“Our robot has several advantages as compared to other existing methods. The softness and biocompatibility of the material will make it possible to conduct surgeries in almost any body part without harming the vessel walls. At the same time, it’s not necessary to inject the device into the popliteal fossa like it happens during the standard procedure. Moreover, during a conventional surgery, the doctor should be extremely careful to avoid damaging the blood vessel walls with a catheter. This means that the result of the surgery depends on the human factor. Our method is less dangerous as the doctor controls robots remotely. This opens up new opportunities for telemedicine,” says Anna Pozhitkova, a second-year Master’s student at the ChemBio Cluster and the first author of the paper.

More details on this issue are available in the following link:

https://indiaeducationdiary.in/itmo-itmo-scientists-develop-elastic-robots-to-treat-thrombosis/

Inas Abdulkareem