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Submarines in your body How the combination of nano-technology and mobile communications will revolutionise medicine
Already in 1959, the legendary physicist and pioneer of nano-technology Richard P. Feynman suggested in a visionary speech that “it would be interesting in surgery if you could swallow the surgeon”. What then sounded like a fantastic idea from a science-fiction novel is now close to becoming a reality. The idea of a nano-machine travelling through a patient’s vessels, checking and even repairing body functions, originated from Feynman’s student Albert R. Hibbs. Initially, it was only taken serious by Hollywood producers. Fantastic voyage In the 1966 movie “Fantastic Voyage”, shrunken doctors in a micro-size submarine travelled through the bloodstream of a dying scientist. It was only since the 1980s that miniaturisation at nano scales became feasible. A nanometre (nm) is a billionth of a metre – 100,000 times smaller than a hair’s diameter. Just to grasp how incredibly small this is, imagine a tennis ball compared to the Earth and you roughly have the difference between a nanometre and a metre. In the 1980s, researchers focused on ever smaller semiconductors and new materials at molecular levels. Just four years ago, in 1999, scientists at Cornell University managed to manufacture nanochoppers of metal and silicone, which move thanks to tiny propellers, driven by the enzyme ATPase. In 2000, German
micromechanics firm microTEC designed a tiny submarine, 0,5 mm in diameter
and 4 mm in length, for cruising through arteries. However, mechanical sensors on micro-level, which can be implanted in a patient’s body for measuring body functions, are already available. Monitoring blood pressure In February, a research team from Aachen University of Technology presented an implantable silicone capsule for wireless monitoring of blood pressure. The capsule is 2,6 mm in diameter and 20 mm in length, relatively big from a nano point of view, but small enough to be fixed with a guiding catheter in the branching of an artery. The capsule contains a pressure sensor chip and an antenna. It sends the blood pressure data as modulated signals over a distance of 3 cm with a data rate of 12.3 kbits/s to an external read-out station using the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. The implant receives power from the read-out station through inductive coupling of a high-frequency field using 6.78 MHz transponder technology. Gateway in the belt buckle From there it is only a small step to a useful telemedicine application. This is where mobile telecommunications technology enters the stage. It would be relatively simple to merge the read-out station with a mobile communications device. The combined device would serve as a personal health gateway and could be, for instance, integrated in the patient’s belt buckle. What sounds like playful gadgetry for geeks could become a life-saver for everyone. Imagine a patient with high blood pressure and an increased risk of a heart attack. As soon as blood pressure would exceed a critical mark, the patient’s doctor would be notified by SMS and could take immediate action. Visions for nano-telemedicine In the next evolutionary step, the implant would not be just a passive sensor, but an active medical vehicle which could take immediate action in an emergency case, for instance by emitting a drug to counter a heart attack. This action could be triggered off remotely by an electronic doctor, who could react much faster than a real doctor on the basis of the patient’s stored health data. Smart nano-implants would not have to be limited to blood-pressure, but could cover almost any critical body function which requires monitoring. Though this might still sound like science-fiction fantasies, it will be technically feasible before the end of the decade. So, we should better begin discussing the social implications of nano-telemedicine, before the technology is there and society is not prepared to use it because of unresolved issues, like privacy and security of health data. Hibbs’ and Feynman’s vision is becoming reality. The connected miniature surgeon will be there soon, and you better start getting accustomed to the thought of a smart nano-device in your body. Further information is available in our Web edition at www.eurescom.de/message Please send us your comments on this article. |
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It is equipped with sensors for monitoring body functions, but could also
deliver a cargo of drugs to an affected area. However, the company expected
that it would take until 2006 until the nano-submarine is technically mature
to be used on humans. Technical problems to be overcome are the size of
available microchips and the danger of damaging the walls of the arteries
with the miniature submarine’s propellers. Another item is the precise
steering of the nano-vehicle. Thus, it will take some more time, until the
“fantastic voyage” of a nano-submarine can start – without shrunken doctors,
of course.