A stylised image of the lungs. The tubes are multicoloured and the lobes range from purple to blue.
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Tiny Robots Fighting Lung Disease!

ByHayley Frend
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Take a deep breath…. Now let’s dive into the world of swarms of tiny robots taking journeys inside our lungs! 

Whether you are out of breath after a race, taking some deep breaths to calm yourself before a test or simply going about your daily life, your lungs are busy working hard for you. Giving your body the oxygen it needs to survive We all know how annoying it is when we have a cough. When your lungs aren’t in tip-top shape it can make our everyday lives so much more difficult. But unfortunately, some people suffer diseases which affect their lungs much worse than a cold. Some diseases, like lung cancer and pneumonia, make breathing really hard for millions of people. Scientists are working on ways to help.

Lung Diseases: A Big Problem

a man in a whote shirt holds his fist to his mouth as he is coughing. His other hand extends towards the camera, palm towards the camers in a 'stop' symbol. His forehead is creased, showing his apparent stuggle and suffering.

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya in Unsplash

The problem is, these diseases are hard to treat. Taking medicine as a pill or injection affects the whole body, which can cause unwanted effects. Even inhaling medicine (like using an inhaler) spreads the drug all over the lungs, not just where it’s needed. That’s why scientists want a better way to deliver medicine right to the problem areas.

Swarms of Tiny Robots to the Rescue!

Scientists in China have come up with an amazing solution. They’ve built minature robots, not much bigger than a grain of sand, that can move through the tiny tunnels in our lungs! These robots are made of miniscule magnetic pieces, which means doctors can control them using magnets. Just like a swarm of ants working together, these microrobots can move as a group split apart, or change shape to find their way through the lungs. A bit like how the iron filings move and change shape when a magnet is near in the video below

FYI- Think tiny robots in the lungs are cool? Wait till you see how doctors use high-tech robot arms to do surgery from far, far away!

A Smart Way to Deliver Medicine

To make the microrobots even better, scientists added something called a hydrogel. Hydrogels are special materials that hold lots of water, like a sponge, making them soft, flexible, and safe to use inside the body.

But that’s not all! These hydrogels can break down and release medicine when they reach the sick parts of the lungs. How? The disease areas in the lung have different pH levels (a measure of how acidic something is). The hydrogel reacts to this change, slowly dissolving and releasing the medicine exactly where it’s needed. Scientists can also design hydrogels that break down when exposed to light, heat, or electricity, giving doctors even more control over the treatment!

Testing the Microrobots

Before these robots can help real people, scientists had to put them to the test:

  1. Lung Model Test: They built a 3D model of human lungs and tested if the microrobots could navigate through the tiny airways. Success!
  2. Real Lung Test: They then tested the microrobots in a pig’s lung to see if they could move through the slimy, twisting pathways—just like in real human lungs. Success again! The robots changed shape, avoided obstacles, and reached their target without causing damage.
A panel of smaller images taken from the academic paper. IN the top row is four medical magnified images of a lung bronchus. The microgel swarm can be seen as small dots clustered in one of the tubes. A large black magnet is seem above the dots. As the images progres the magent and the swarm move upwards along the bronchus. In the bottom row is another four images. howing the swarm changing shaoe, getting smaller and getting larger. All images show how the swarm can move and change formation.

Figure from Koehl, A., et al. (2023). Structure-based discovery of nonopioid analgesics acting through the α2A-adrenergic receptor. Science Advances, 9(39), eadr3356. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adr3356

Here you can see the tiny robots (in the red square) inside the lung. The big black object is the magnet. You can see as the magnet moves up, the robots travel along the branch. If you look closely at the last pictures you can see the robot swarm changing shape. 

Top tip- while tiny robots are doing amazing things, computers are getting smarter too! Discover how artificial intelligence is helping doctors figure out what’s wrong and how to help—faster than ever before.

What’s Next?

There’s still a lot of work to do before these tiny robots can be used to treat real patients. Scientists need to figure out:

  • Which diseases they should focus on first?
  • How to make the robots stick to the right spot and slowly release medicine over time.
  • How to collect or dissolve the robots once their job is done.

If scientists can solve these problems, these high-tech mini-machines could change medicine forever. 

Imagine a future where tiny robots fight disease from the inside, helping people breathe easier and live longer!

Tonights Dinner Table Discussion

Here’s some ideas to spark a fascinating family discussion.

  • How might life be different for someone who can’t breathe easily? What would you invent to help?
  • Can you think of animals that work in swarms or teams? How are they like the robots?
  • If You Could Build a Microrobot what would it do inside the body? Would it have any clever features?
  • Would you rather invent something or be the first to try it? Who do you think is the biggest hero, the scientist or the first patient?

Big Family Question:

If you were sick, would you feel comfortable using these tiny robots to get better? Why or why not?

Science is awesome. So is asking questions.

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Curious about nature-inspired engineering and next-gen science? Read more:

Let’s Talk About It

Would you let a doctor put a microrobot inside your body if it could help you get better? Why or why not? Let us know what you think below!

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