Silk Microrobots Could Deliver Drugs in the Body

Jul-01-16 Tiny, 3D-printed microrockets made of silk may one day be used to deliver drugs inside the body to targeted areas.

The tiny rockets, created by a team from the University of Sheffield, are made of silk scaffolding and measure only 300 microns long. They propel themselves with a catalytic material embedded in the rocket while it is being printed, which also determines the trajectory. And since the rockets are made from silk, they are already biocompatible and safe for use in the body.

The silken robots are a marked improvement over previous devices, which have been expensive to manufacture and are made from materials that must be covered in a catalyst in order to swim successfully.

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[MEDGADGET.COM]
[SHEFFIELD.AC.UK]

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