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Medical microbots need better imaging and control

Nature volume 545, pages 406–408 (2017)Cite this article

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Mariana Medina-Sánchez and Oliver G. Schmidt set priorities for more realistic tests of tiny machines that could be used to diagnose and treat conditions.

More than 50 years ago, physicist Richard Feynman spoke of “swallowing the surgeon” in his classic lecture, 'There's plenty of room at the bottom'. Today, scientists are designing microscopic devices — microbots and micromotors — to eventually move through the body to perform medical tasks. Synthetic rods, tubes, helices, spheres or cages as small as a cell could be sent into the blood, liver, stomach or reproductive tract to diagnose conditions, carry drugs or perform surgery.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. group leader of the Micro and Nano-biomedical Engineering Group at the Leibniz IFW, Dresden, Germany

    Mariana Medina-Sánchez

  2. Institute for Integrative Nanosciences at the Leibniz IFW, Dresden, Germany

    Oliver G. Schmidt

  3. Material Systems for Nanoelectronics at Technische Universität Chemnitz, Germany

    Oliver G. Schmidt

Authors
  1. Mariana Medina-Sánchez
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  2. Oliver G. Schmidt
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Mariana Medina-Sánchez or Oliver G. Schmidt.

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Medina-Sánchez, M., Schmidt, O. Medical microbots need better imaging and control. Nature 545, 406–408 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/545406a

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