Tiny Microgrippers Dissolve in the Body

Feb-27-15 Researchers have created biodegradable microgrippers that could one day perform a procedure within the body and then dissolve harmlessly away.

The star-shaped grippers are made up of a frame of stiff polymers embedded with magnetic nanoparticles and then surrounded by a soft hydrogel. Their gripping action comes from the hydrogel's ability to change shape in response to different stimuli—temperature, in this case. When the grippers are cold, they curl up for easy insertion into the body. Once inside the body, they warm up and unfold, and can then fold in the opposite direction in order to grip tissue.

The grippers can be controlled with a magnetic probe, and are strong enough to wrap around cells to deliver drugs or perform biopsies.

More Info about this Invention:

[MEDGADGET.COM]
[ACS.ORG]

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