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Microbot Surgical Team

Tiny Robots Inside Your Body - The Future of Surgery!

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What Is Microbot Surgery?

🎯 Simulator Tips

📚 Glossary

Microbot (Medical Microrobot)
An untethered robotic device smaller than 1 millimeter designed to navigate through the body for diagnosis or therapy.
Nanorobot
A robotic device at the nanometer scale (< 1 micrometer), designed for molecular-level medical interventions like targeting individual cells.
Targeted Drug Delivery
Transporting therapeutic agents directly to a disease site using microbots, minimizing side effects on healthy tissue.
Magnetic Actuation
Using external magnetic fields to propel and steer microbots through biological fluids, the most common propulsion method.
Helical Microswimmer
A corkscrew-shaped microbot that converts rotation from an external magnetic field into forward thrust, mimicking bacterial flagella.
Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB)
A selective barrier that restricts substance passage from blood to brain tissue; microbots could potentially cross it to treat neurological diseases.
Thrombectomy
The removal of a blood clot (thrombus) from a blood vessel; microbots could perform this without catheter-based surgery.
Biocompatible
A material that does not cause harmful immune responses or toxicity when placed inside the living body.
Biodegradable
A material that safely breaks down into non-toxic components in the body after completing its function.
Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS)
Surgical techniques that minimize incision size and tissue damage; microbot surgery is the ultimate form of MIS.
Swarm Robotics
Coordinated deployment of many simple robots that collectively achieve complex tasks through emergent behavior.
Catheter
A thin tube inserted into the body to deliver treatments or perform procedures; microbots aim to replace many catheter-based interventions.
MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
A medical imaging technology that uses strong magnetic fields; can potentially both image and propel magnetic microbots.
Photoacoustic Imaging
An imaging technique combining laser light and ultrasound, offering high resolution for tracking microbots in tissue.
Haptic Feedback
Touch-based feedback that allows surgeons to 'feel' what microbots encounter inside the body during remote operation.
Endoscopy
Using cameras and instruments inside body cavities; microbots extend this concept to the vascular system at microscopic scale.

🏆 Key Figures

Brad Nelson (2000s-present)

ETH Zurich professor and pioneer of magnetically actuated medical microrobots, developing some of the first wirelessly controlled microrobots for surgery inside the eye and vascular system

Metin Sitti (2010s-present)

Max Planck Institute director who developed bioinspired microbots including bacteria-powered robots and shape-morphing micromachines for targeted drug delivery in the gastrointestinal tract

Sylvain Martel (2006-present)

Polytechnique Montreal professor who pioneered using MRI systems to navigate magnetic nanoparticles and bacteria-based microbots through blood vessels to tumors in animal models

Joseph Wang (2012-present)

UC San Diego professor who developed chemically-powered micro- and nanomotors for biomedical applications, including zinc-based microbots that dissolve after delivering drugs to the stomach

Peer Fischer (2009-present)

Max Planck Institute researcher who created nanoscale helical robots inspired by bacterial flagella that can be steered through biological fluids using rotating magnetic fields

💬 Message to Learners

{'encouragement': 'You are exploring the future of surgery - one where tiny robots navigate inside the body to heal from within. The surgeons and engineers who will pilot the first clinical microbot team are learning right now, perhaps through this very simulator.', 'reminder': 'Fifty years ago, the idea of robots performing surgery seemed like pure science fiction. Today, the da Vinci surgical robot has performed over 10 million operations. Medical microbots are at the same inflection point - what seems impossible today will be routine tomorrow.', 'action': 'Start your mission! Navigate microbots through blood vessels, remove clots, deliver drugs to tumors, and perform biopsies. Each mission teaches you a real technique that researchers are developing right now in labs worldwide.', 'dream': 'Perhaps a medical student in Kinshasa will design microbots that bring surgery to villages with no hospital. Perhaps a young engineer in Amman will create swarms that clear the blocked arteries of heart attack patients in minutes. The microbot revolution in medicine belongs to dreamers everywhere.', 'wiaVision': 'WIA Book believes that the knowledge to heal with tiny robots belongs to every person on Earth. From Seoul to Nairobi, from Zurich to Dhaka - imagine a world where the best surgery is available anywhere, performed by microscopic robots guided by AI. Free forever, in the spirit of Hongik-ingan.'}

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