Let's remember for a moment what the treatment of any, even the most insignificant disease in Russian realities consists of today: a trip to the doctor (if, of course, you pass the test of a 'purely domestic' line), a subsequent tour of pharmacies and not the fastest, but at best everything recovery – and at all stages of this 'quest' you must pay a lot with or without … In general, healthcare in Russia, frankly, does not boast a high level of service.
But everything can change
Now imagine this situation: having felt the slightest symptoms of any disease, you go to the nearest medical facility, undergo a small examination (or even without it), after that you will be given a regular injection and that's it! It may seem incredible, but a similar future is not far off: such a huge breakthrough in medicine should be made by nanorobots – tiny devices introduced into the patient's body, for example, using the same injection.
Not all, but many scientists and engineers who are familiar with the principles of nanorobots are confident that the latter will be capable not only of easy and prompt treatment of simple diseases, but also will be able to put an end to a long and ineffective fight against deadly ailments like cancer. However, this is not all. It is assumed that nanorobots can be successfully used for:
- Arteriosclerosis treatment
- Safe destruction of blood clots
- Helping platelets
- Removing parasites
- Cleaning wounds
- Destruction of kidney stones
Navigating nanorobots
When creating nanorobots, there are three main tasks that scientists need to solve – these are issues related to nutrition, navigation and movement of nanorobots. All existing options can be divided into external systems and onboard systems, and each of the approaches has its own pros and cons.
If we talk about navigation, then the main problem here is how nanobots will independently find the focus of the disease and get to it. For example, researchers from Montreal were able to track and manage nanoparticles in a pig's body using an MRI machine and special software. Other possible methods of external detection and control of nanorobots include the use of radio waves, X-rays or heat (but, unfortunately, today their potential is too small, so they are considered only 'in perspective').
Another approach to navigating nanorobots in the body – onboard systems – requires a sufficient level of miniaturization of all systems and sensors onboard the nanobot so that it can be safely inserted into the human body and function there without endangering health. As for specific developments, the option of creating a technology is currently being considered, thanks to which nanorobots will be able to orient themselves according to the flow of chemicals in the circulatory system.
Food
Powering nanorobots is no less a dilemma than navigation. If a relatively small part of developments in this area involves the use of external (outside the human body) energy sources, and so far everything is very vague, then the situation with onboard solutions is more interesting. With regard to this decision, scientists also split into two camps: some consider a more viable version with the generation of energy by nanorobots autonomously (that is, directly in the device, regardless of environmental factors), while others are of the opinion that it will be possible to organize the energy supply of nanorobots most efficiently and safely when using the human body itself: for example, with the help of heat or due to passive movement through the circulatory system.
Movement
However, nanobots will be able to generate energy from passive movement only on condition that their use will involve this passive movement along with the blood flow, or if there is no need for nanobots to be tied to a certain zone. Given that the blood circulates in our bodies at a tremendous speed, the propulsion system of nanorobots must be powerful enough to resist this flow and at the same time not harm their host. Scientists engaged in the creation of nanorobots do not exclude the possibility of using the “principle of a jet stream”: using electromagnetic pumps, the system would suck in chemicals from one side and push them with great force from the other end of the nanobot, thereby giving it a tremendous speed of movement.
On the other hand, one should not overdo it and not harm the patient – this is the main argument of engineers trying to 'spy' the idea of movement of nanoparticles in nature. For example, Israeli scientists have created a robot several millimeters long and capable of moving around, sucking itself with tentacles to various surfaces.
The future of nanobots
Leading engineers and professionals in the field of robotics, in collaboration with the best doctors around the world, are engaged in the development of nanorobots, and it should be noted – not without results. For example, more or less working semi-autonomous prototypes have already been created, which, although they are rather large (from a millimeter), are successfully tested on animals. It is possible that in the future such micro robots will be used everywhere, even in countries with not the highest living standards.
Another possible scenario is that the nanorobots will be able to connect to the patient's smartphone, where he will be able to monitor the statistics of treatment in the application and independently make some minimal changes to the work of the nanorobots floating in his veins.