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posted by martyb on Saturday August 19 2017, @06:58AM   Printer-friendly
from the scrubbing-bubbles dept.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2017/08/16/robots-ulcers-mice/

Tiny robots powered by bubbles have successfully treated an infection in mice.

The achievement is another step forward in a field that has long shown promise, and is only now beginning to deliver. The therapeutic robots in this case were tiny spheres of magnesium and titanium coated with an antibacterial agent and about the width of a human hair. They were released into the stomach, where they swam around and delivered a drug to the target before dissolving.

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego targeted their treatment, which they refer to as "micromotors" to Helicobacter pylori, a species of bacteria that causes ulcers. To treat such infections, drugs must first neutralize the acidity of the stomach, something normally done with a class of drugs called proton pump inhibitors that stop acid production. This can have unpleasant side effects, however, so it's less than ideal.

The micromotors accomplish the same task by exploiting the reaction between magnesium and gastric acid, temporarily raising pH levels and creating bubbles of hydrogen that serve as propulsion for the tiny beads. A sticky coating on their surface allows them to stick to the walls of the stomach once they reach it, and when the pH level reaches a certain point, after about 20 minutes, the antibacterial agent is released into the stomach. After delivering their payload, the micromotors dissolve and the stomach returns to its normal acidity within a day.

Also at UC San Diego.

Micromotor-enabled active drug delivery for in vivo treatment of stomach infection (open, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00309-w) (DX)


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  • (Score: 2) by AnonTechie on Saturday August 19 2017, @08:46AM

    by AnonTechie (2275) on Saturday August 19 2017, @08:46AM (#556310) Journal

    As someone who suffered from ulcers, this is indeed welcome if it delivers as advertised. I hope such treatment would be available to humans in the near future.
    Glaxo, credited with discovering Ranitidine (Trade Name: Zantac), which is used to treat ulcers, was a huge success and they earned billions of dollars from this drug. How the drug companies would react to such treatments is another story altogether.

    [Info]: Glaxo is perhaps the greatest success story in post-war British industry [telegraph.co.uk]

    --
    Albert Einstein - "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 19 2017, @08:54AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 19 2017, @08:54AM (#556311)

    I can feel them. Moving up my uretha, and worse, back down. I know what they are after. Once they cut the supply, my manhood will be as useful as the ass on a worm. We should have seen this coming, they said the bots would cure us, make us better, stronger, more "white". But all they did was introduce Ubermachinen to devour us from the inside. One has made up the carotid, and now is nibbling on my brain. Interesting sensation, almost like a delayed orgasm. But they will take over, even if, especially if, they pleasure me.

    And, I can feel my mind going, with my member. Open the pod bay doors, HAL. Daisy, Daisy, Trump is a president true. Oh my god, is this what it is like to be jmorris? So, so limited, but I cannot remember why. Soon, I will be cured, the microbots tell me so. Where am I? Why is there something rather than nothing? Is existence optional? . . . . CONNECTION LOST, CLEARANCE REVOKED, REPORT TO SUPERIOR FOR DEBRIEFING, AND BOUNCY BOUNCY TIME.

  • (Score: 2) by leftover on Saturday August 19 2017, @03:57PM

    by leftover (2448) on Saturday August 19 2017, @03:57PM (#556385)

    They made time-release microbubbles containing medicine, pretty much like microencapsulated stuff in the supermarkets. One difference is the capsule itself performs a minor functional role in sticking to the stomach wall.

    All the specious talk about "micromotors" and "robots" diminishes the work by adding the smell of bullshit.

    --
    Bent, folded, spindled, and mutilated.
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