Researchers develop ‘magnetic vine robots’ to transform cancer treatment

Lung cancer accounts for an estimated two million global diagnoses and 1.8 million deaths

Researchers from the University of Leeds have developed a new class of ‘magnetic vine robots’, which have the potential to transform cancer diagnosis and treatment for patients.

Engineers, scientists and clinicians from the university’s STORM Lab and Future Manufacturing Processes Research Group, in collaboration with the University of California San Diego’s Morimoto Lab, developed the technology published in IEEE Robotics and Automaton Letters.

Utilising pneumatic pressure on the inside to grow and magnetics to steer, the vine robots with magnetic skin have the ability to grow as they move and squeeze through gaps almost 40% thinner than their resting diameter, allowing them to navigate narrow, complex pathways deep inside the human body.

Experts have said that by magnetising their ‘skin’ and controlling them using external magnets, the small plastic robots are able to navigate an ‘S’ bend, meaning that they could potentially be used to treat tumours in the most difficult-to-reach parts of the lungs while offering an advanced and less invasive surgical tool.

Currently the leading cause of global cancer incidence and mortality, lung cancer, such as lung nodules, non-small cell lung cancer, small cell lung cancer and mesothelioma, accounts for an estimated two million diagnoses and 1.8 million deaths.

Professor Pietro Valdastri, director, STORM Lab and research supervisor, University of Leeds, commented: “These new robots represent a significant advancement in surgical navigation technology that could benefit millions of people.

“They have the potential to improve the safety and efficacy of medical procedures, from diagnoses to biopsies and treatment, reducing recovery times and minimising surgical risks.”

Lead author of the study, Josh Davy, PhD student, School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Leeds, explained that the robots can re-open collapsed tubes in the body, allowing surgeons to reach deeper into the body, ultimately transforming treatment for cancer.

Davy said: “We are trying to make more cancers operable… without causing significant trauma and damage, [to] open up new avenues for treatments for cancers that would otherwise require open surgeries.”