Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have developed microrobots that can swim.
Microrobots made from algae cellsthe surface of which is dotted with nanoparticles filled with antibiotics. The algae provides movement, allowing microrobots to swim and deliver antibiotics directly to more bacteria in the lungs.
Robot under a microscope. It consists of algae (the green part) coated with tiny nanoparticles. Image: Fangyu Zhang, Zhengxing Li, UC San Diego
Nanoparticles are made up of tiny biodegradablepolymeric spheres covered with cell membranes of neutrophils, which are a type of leukocyte. The peculiarity of these cell membranes is that they absorb and neutralize inflammatory molecules produced by bacteria and the body's immune system. This gives the microrobots the ability to reduce harmful inflammation, which in turn makes them more effective in fighting lung infection, the authors note.
The team used microrobots to treatmice with an acute and potentially fatal form of Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia. Patients on mechanical ventilation in the hospital often become infected with this form. The scientists injected the microrobots into the lungs of mice through a tube inserted into the trachea. Infections completely disappeared after a week in all test subjects. At the same time, mice that were not treated died within three days.
The researchers note that the introduction of robotsalso proved to be more effective than intravenous antibiotics. The latter, to achieve the same effect, required a dose that was 3000 times higher than that delivered by microrobots. As a consequence, the use of robots reduced the side effects of drugs.
The researchers plan to test the devices in larger animals before testing them in humans.
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