Nanobots to help do surgeries in the future?

Published September 17, 2013 12:05am

In the near future, tiny nanobots may be doctors' trusty little helpers in conducting delicate surgeries.

The bots being built by Zurich-based researchers have retractable needles for probing but will be 0.25 mm in diameter, tech site Mashable reported.

Mashable said the 0.25-mm diameter is about the size of four human hairs.

Such bots would be "as thin as a surgical scalpel and its needle is just as sharp," it added.

However, Mashable said the system is not quite ready for humans, although researchers have conducted initial experiments by exploring the eye.

Following such experiments, the Zurich team hopes to perfect the technology and shrink the nanobot further.

With the bots too small to have a battery, the researchers built an "OctoMag" system that uses electromagnets around the patient's head to provide power to the robot.

"(B)y slightly increasing or decreasing the force of the electromagnets, the robot is pushed or pulled through the body," Mashable said. — ELR, GMA News

Tags: surgery, nanotechnology, nanobots