Researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong have created a magnetic slime robot that one day could navigate inside a human body and heal it.

Figure 1: Magnetic Slime Robot Can Move Through Tight Spaces and Grab Things.

Figure 1 shows that This nasty-looking magnetic robotic slime could one day be used by doctors in digestive medical emergencies. Robots come in strange shapesand sizes but many focus on mobility and interacting with the environment and humans. The fact that they are built to improve care, and save human lives.

AI and electronic health records in the cloud are also being used to prevent and better treat diseases, while robots are being tested to alleviate a stressed and strained health workforce. [1]

Researchers have created a "soft robot" made of slime containing magnetic particles, which can be manipulated using external magnets.

The magnetic particles are toxic, but have theoretically been made safe to enter the human body after being covered in a layer of silicone compound - although further safety testing will be needed in the future. [2]

The slime contains magnetic particles so that it can be manipulated to travel, rotate, or form O and C shapes when external magnets are applied to it.

“The ultimate goal is to deploy it like a robot,” Zhang said, adding that for the time being the slime lacked autonomy. “We still consider it as fundamental research – trying to understand its material properties.”

It is made of a mixture of a polymer called polyvinyl alcohol, borax – which is widely used in cleaning products – and particles of neodymium magnet.

“When you touch it very quickly it behaves like a solid. When you touch it gently and slowly it behaves like a liquid,” Zhang said.

While the team have no immediate plans to test it in a medical setting, the scientists envisage the slime could be useful in the digestive system, for example in reducing the harm from a small swallowed battery.

The magnetic particles in the slime, however, are toxic themselves. The researchers coated the slime in a layer of silica – the main component in sand – to form a hypothetically protective layer. “The safety [would] also strongly depend on how long you would keep them inside of your body,” Zhang said.

Zhang added that pigments or dye could be used to make the slime – which is currently an opaque brown-black hue – more colourful. [3]

References:

1. https://screenrant.com/magnetic-slime-robot-moves-grabs-human-body-healthcare/
2. source: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-environment-60961184
3. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/apr/01/magnetic-turd-scientists-invent-moving-slime-that-could-be-used-in-human-digestive-systems

Cite this article:

Sri Vasagi K (2022), Magnetic Miniature Soft-Bodied Robots Can Move and Grab Things, Anatechmaz, pp. 132