PARIS: In 1966, the movie "Fantastic Voyage" recounted the tale of doctors who are miniaturised along with a submarine and injected into the body of a Soviet defector, sailing up his bloodstream to destroy a brain clot that imperils the VIP's life.
More than 40 years later, some of the futuristic potential of "Fantastic Voyage" has taken a step closer to realisation, thanks to a remarkable achievement in miniaturisation unveiled this week.
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One day, the remote-controlled bot could carry sensor equipment for observation work, relaying images back to surgeons. Or it could become a tiny surgeon, cutting away blood clots, reaming out clogged arteries or repairing damaged tissue, its inventors hope.
The "microbot" measures just a quarter of a millimetre, or "two or three human hairs wide," said lead scientist James Friend, from the Nanophysics Laboratory at Monash University, Australia.
"We are looking for something that can be placed in human arteries, especially in locations where it can't be done with the technologies that were around previously," he said.
The device could transmit images, deliver microscopic payloads and, eventually, carry out surgery, said Friend. It would then be retrieved by syringe at the point of entry.
"For the moment, we are going for observation, because it is the easiest thing to do," said Friend. "From that point on, we will go for other kinds of operations, mainly snipping and cutting."
If the device breaks down, it would return downstream to the point of entry and then be picked up, or it could be recovered by micro-catheter, he said.
The team has produced prototypes of the motors and is now looking at how to improve the assembly method and a mechanical device that moves and controls the micromotor.
But years of work probably lie ahead before it is used on a human patient.
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