Tracking of medical nanobots comes a step closer

Medical nanobots have long been a dream of science fiction: minute devices that can roam the bloodstream and the organs looking for, and even treating, disease and other conditions. As The Engineer has reported, the first steps towards these technologies are being taken around the world, with targeted drug delivery systems that bind to specific sites and release specifically-targeted medicines. Other research has looked at smart pills – devices that can carry cameras or other miniaturised technology inside the body to help clinicians treat patients. One problem with such devices is tracking their location once they are ingested. Researchers from Caltech have now borrowed a technique for magnetic resonance imaging to help tackle this problem.

The team, led by electrical engineer Azita Emami and chemical engineer Mikhail Shapiro, has developed a technique known as ATOMS (addressable transmitters operated as magnetic spins) which allows smart pills — also known as capsule endoscopes — to be located in the body using magnetic fields. The technique uses silicon chips that contain a set of integrated sensors, resonators and wireless transmission technology that allow them to mimic the magnetic resonance properties of atoms.