A miniature robot that could check colons for

early signs of disease

Engineers have shown it is technically possible to guide a tiny robotic capsule inside the
colon to take micro-ultrasound images.

Known as a Sonopill, the device could one day replace the need for patients to undergo an
endoscopic examination, where a semi-rigid scope is passed into the bowel -- an invasive
procedure that can be painful.
Micro-ultrasound images also have the advantage of being better able to identify some types
of cell change associated with cancer.
The Sonopill is the culmination of a decade of research by an international consortium of
engineers and scientists. The results of their feasibility study are published today (June 19th)
in the journal Science Robotics.
The consortium has developed a technique called intelligent magnetic manipulation. Based
on the principle that magnets can attract and repel one another, a series of magnets on a
robotic arm that passes over the patient interacts with a magnet inside the capsule, gently
manoeuvring it through the colon.
The magnetic forces used are harmless and can pass through human tissue, doing away
with the need for a physical connection between the robotic arm and the capsule.
An artificial intelligence system (AI) ensures the smooth capsule can position itself correctly
against the gut wall to get the best quality micro-ultrasound images. The feasibility study
also showed should the capsule get dislodged, the AI system can navigate it back to the
required location.
Professor Pietro Valdastri, who holds the Chair in Robotics and Autonomous Systems at the
University of Leeds and was senior author of the paper, said: "The technology has the
potential to change the way doctors conduct examinations of the gastrointestinal tract.
"Previous studies showed that micro-ultrasound was able to capture high-resolution images
and visualise small lesions in the superficial layers of the gut, providing valuable information
about the early signs of disease.
"With this study, we show that intelligent magnetic manipulation is an effective technique to
guide a micro-ultrasound capsule to perform targeted imaging deep inside the human body.
"The platform is able to localise the position of the Sonopill at any time and adjust the
external driving magnet to perform a diagnostic scan while maintaining a high quality
ultrasound signal. This discovery has the potential to enable painless diagnosis via a micro-
ultrasound pill in the entire gastrointestinal tract."
Sandy Cochran, Professor of Ultrasound Materials and Systems at the University of
Glasgow and lead researcher, said: "We're really excited by the results of this feasibility
study. With an increasing demand for endoscopies, it is more important than ever to be able
to deliver a precise, targeted, and cost-effective treatment that is comfortable for patients.
"Today, we are one step closer to delivering that.
"We hope that in the near future, the Sonopill will be available to all patients as part of regular
medical check-ups, effectively catching serious diseases at an early stage and monitoring
the health of everyone's digestive system."
The Sonopill is a small capsule -- with a diameter of 21mm and length of 39mm, which the
engineers say can be scaled down. The capsule houses a micro ultrasound transducer, an
LED light, camera and magnet.
A very small flexible cable is tethered to the capsule which also passes into the body via the
rectum and sends ultrasound images back to a computer in the examination room.
The feasibility tests were conducted on laboratory models and in animal studies involving
pigs.
Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract account for approximately 8 million deaths a year
across the world, including some bowel cancers which are linked with high mortality

Story Source:
Materials provided by University of Leeds. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
APA: University of Leeds. (2019, June 19). A miniature robot that could check colons for
early signs of disease. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 24, 2019 from
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/06/190619142523.htm
Spinach Leaf Transformed Into Beating
Human Heart Tissue
Using the plant like scaffolding, scientists built a mini version of a working heart, which may
one day aid in tissue regeneration.

S C I E N T I S T S H A V E F O U N D a way to use spinach to build working human heart

muscle, potentially solving a long-standing problem in efforts to repair damaged organs.

Their study, published this month by the journal Biomaterials, offers a new way to grow a
vascular system, which has been a roadblock for tissue engineering.

Scientists have already created large-scale human tissue in a lab using methods like 3D
printing, but it’s been much harder to grow the small, delicate blood vessels that are vital
to tissue health.

“The main limiting factor for tissue engineering … is the lack of a vascular network,” says
study co-author Joshua Gershlak, a graduate student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute
(WPI) in Massachusetts, in a video describing the study. “Without that vascular network,
you get a lot of tissue death.”
One of the defining traits of a leaf is the branching network of thin veins that delivers
water and nutrients to its cells. Now, scientists have used plant veins to replicate the way
blood moves through human tissue. The work involves modifying a spinach leaf in the lab
to remove its plant cells, which leaves behind a frame made of cellulose.

“Cellulose is biocompatible [and] has been used in a wide variety of regenerative

medicine applications, such as cartilage tissue engineering, bone tissue engineering, and
wound healing,” the authors write in their paper.

The team then bathed the remaining plant frame in live human cells, so that the human
tissue grew on the spinach scaffolding and surrounded the tiny veins. Once they had
transformed the spinach leaf into a sort of mini heart, the team sent fluids and
microbeads through its veins to show that blood cells can flow through this system.

The eventual goal is to be able to replace damaged tissue in patients who have had heart
attacks or who have suffered other cardiac issues that prevent their hearts from
contracting. Like blood vessels, the veins in the modified leaves would deliver oxygen to
the entire swath of replacement tissue, which is crucial in generating new heart matter.

The study team says the same methods could be used with different types of plants to
repair a variety of tissues in the body. For instance, swapping out the cells in wood might
one day help fix human bones.

“We have a lot more work to do, but so far this is very promising,” study co-author Glenn
Gaudette, also of WPI, says in a press statement. “Adapting abundant plants that farmers
have been cultivating for thousands of years for use in tissue engineering could solve a
host of problems limiting the field.”

SOURCES:

nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/03/human-heart-spinach-leaf-medicine-science/