Micro Medical Swimming Devices
6/24/16 Micro components have become a staple in medical devices and pharmaceutical drug delivery. Micro Engineering Solutions has been an integral part of many micro component projects, you can see some of our projects on our parts and projects pages.
Scientists at the University of Sheffield are working on a project that is right up our alley and we wanted to share it with you. They are working on tiny spherical bead-like devices can be guided by physical structures while swimming inside fluids. The team believes its research could lead to using structures in the body to guide drug delivery and exploration.
These micro sized devices, which are a similar size to cells and bacteria, might find applications in the delivery of drugs to a specific location inside the body or outside of the body to diagnose diseases in blood samples. This could include finding proteins that indicate cardiac problems or find circulating tumor cells that can indicate the spread of cancer.
The research conducted at Sheffield relies on a new technique, giving the devices a catalytic coating on one side, which creates a chemical reaction when fuel molecules are added, causing the device to move automatically on a pre-determined route. They are currently working on the problem of this device being bounced around by other objects in the fluid of the body, with hopes of using body material and parts to use as guiders.
Working in this field is very fascinating and rewarding. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for micro component medical devices!
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