Microswimmer medical robots and the human immune system

Over the past few years, robotics researchers have designed tiny and untethered swimming robots, also known as microswimmers, with increasingly advanced sensing and locomotion capabilities. These microrobots could prove very useful in medical settings, particularly for the implementation of minimally invasive targeted therapies in parts of the body that are difficult to reach, such as the central nervous system or vascular system. While microswimmers could help to intervene in sensitive sites inside the body, their use also comes with some risks. For instance, they could elicit undesirable responses from the human immune system, which may perceive them as intruders.

The immune system is designed to recognize and protect the body from external or foreign objects and organism. When cells of the immune system, such as macrophages, detect a foreign object or intruder, they act by trying to eliminate or neutralize it via a process known as phagocytosis. In order to circumvent this issue and ensure that microrobots do not incite immune responses, the robots should be designed carefully, in ways that minimize their physical interaction with cells of the immune system. Those designing them should pay particular attention to their shape, structure and surface chemistry, as these elements can play a key role in a robot's interactions with immune system cells.

Read: https://techxplore.com/news/2020-08-exploring-interactions-microswimmer-medical-robots.html