Researchers develop new approach to treat liver cancer with microrobots
Researchers in Canada have developed a novel approach to treat liver cancers using magnet-guided microrobots in an MRI device. Guided by an external magnetic field, miniature biocompatible robots, made of iron oxide nanoparticles, can theoretically provide medical treatment in a very targeted manner, the researchers said.
However, there has been a technical obstacle: the force of gravity of these microrobots exceeds that of the magnetic force, which limits their guidance when the tumour is located higher than the injection site, they said.
«To solve this problem, we developed an algorithm that determines the position that the patient's body should be in for a clinical MRI to take advantage of gravity and combine it with the magnetic navigation force,» said Gilles Soulez, a researcher at the University of Montreal.
«This combined effect makes it easier for the microrobots to travel to the arterial branches which feed the tumour. By varying the direction of the magnetic field, we can accurately guide them to sites to be treated and thus preserve the healthy cells,» Gilles said.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive imaging technology that produces three-dimensional detailed anatomical image.
The new approach, published in the journal Science Robotics, could change the interventional radiology approaches used to treat liver cancers, the researchers said.
The most common of these, hepatocellular carcinoma, is responsible for seven lakh deaths per year worldwide, and is currently most often treated
