U.S. scientists have created a robotic device that can be inserted onto a heart using minimally invasive surgery to deliver medical treatment.
Resembling a robotic caterpillar, the device developed by Cameron Riviere and colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University can crawl across the surface of a beating heart, delivering drugs or attaching medical devices.
The 20-millimeter-long robot -- called HeartLander -- has two suckers for feet, each pierced with 20 holes connected to a vacuum line, which holds it onto the outside of the heart. By moving its body segments it can crawl across the heart at up to seven inches per minute. Surgeons keep track of the device using X-ray video or a magnetic tracker, controlling the movements via a joystick.
"HeartLander can reach all parts of the heart's surface," Riviere said. And because it's stationary relative to the heart's surface, there is no need to interfere with the organ's movement.
The researchers are now working on adding a radio-frequency probe to treat arrhythmias by selectively killing malfunctioning heart tissue. They also plan to add a camera.
The research is described in New Scientist magazine.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International
Related stories:
Physicists tweak quantum force, reducing barrier to tiny devices
Cymbals don't clash of their own accord – in our world, anyway. But the quantum world is bizarrely different. Two metal plates, placed almost infinitesimally close together, spontaneously attract each other.
Innovative antennae may signal a 'new wave' in health care provision
Compact, wireless and power efficient body sensors that allow doctors to monitor illnesses and injuries remotely are a step closer thanks to new research.
Versatile coating for biomedical devices lets them interact with live cells
A new type of plastic coating made from vapor could lead to better biomedical devices such as stents and catheters that are "bioactive," meaning they can interact with the living cells around them in unique ways.
Smart clothes: textiles that track your health
Garments that can measure a wearer's body temperature or trace their heart activity are just entering the market, but the European project BIOTEX weaves new functions into smart textiles. Miniaturised biosensors in a textile patch can now analyse body fluids, even a tiny drop of sweat, and provide a much better assessment of someone's health.
Visual technology enables brain to learn in new ways
New technology at Tufts University's Center for Scientific Visualization is enabling researchers to translate the most abstract, complex scientific concepts into clearer, more precise 3-dimensional images than conventional visualization systems can create.
Magnetic levitation gives computer users sense of touch
Computers, long used as tools to design and manipulate three-dimensional objects, may soon provide people with a way to sense the texture of those objects or feel how they fit together, thanks to a haptic, or touch-based, interface developed at Carnegie Mellon University.
Breaking the performance barrier of 22-nm CMOS technology
A major initiative has been launched in Europe with a top-ranked project called DUALLOGIC, Dual channel CMOS for (sub)-22 nm high performance logic.
Global positioning tracker may better gauge severity of peripheral artery disease
A space-based technology may provide an inexpensive and more reliable way to gauge the walking capacity in many patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD), whose clogged leg arteries cause them severe pain when they walk, according to a report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.