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Robotics Medicine Science

Swarms of Tiny Nose Robots Could Clear Infected Sinuses, Researchers Say (theguardian.com) 85

Posted by BeauHD from the what-will-they-think-of-next dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Swarms of tiny robots, each no larger than a speck of dust, could be deployed to cure stubborn infected sinuses before being blown out through the nose into a tissue, researchers have claimed. The micro-robots are a fraction of the width of a human hair and have been inserted successfully into animal sinuses in pre-clinical trials by researchers at universities in China and Hong Kong. Swarms are injected into the sinus cavity via a duct threaded through the nostril and guided to their target by electromagnetism, where they can be made to heat up and catalyze chemical reactions to wipe out bacterial infections. There are hopes the precisely targeted technology could eventually reduce reliance on antibiotics and other generalized medicines.

[...] The latest breakthrough, based on animal rather than human trials, involves magnetic particles "doped" with copper atoms which clinicians insert with a catheter before guiding to their target under a magnetic field. The swarms can be heated up by reacting to light from an optical fibre that is also inserted into the body as part of the therapy. This allows the micro-robots to loosen up and penetrate viscous pus that forms a barrier to the infection site. The light source also prompts the micro-robots to disrupt bacterial cell walls and release reactive oxygen species that kill the bacteria.

The study, published in Nature Robotics, showed the robots were capable of eradicating bacteria from pig sinuses and could clear infections in live rabbits with "no obvious tissue damage." The researchers have produced a model of how the technology could work on a human being, with the robot swarms being deployed in operating theatre conditions, allowing doctors to see their progress by using X-rays. Future applications could include tackling bacterial infections of the respiratory tract, stomach, intestine, bladder and urethra, they suggested. "Our proposed micro-robotic therapeutic platform offers the advantages of non-invasiveness, minimal resistance, and drug-free intervention," they said.

Swarms of Tiny Nose Robots Could Clear Infected Sinuses, Researchers Say More | Reply

Swarms of Tiny Nose Robots Could Clear Infected Sinuses, Researchers Say

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  • Vernor Vinge described these in one of his books, but not crawling up nostrils.

  • can't iron dust do the same thing ?

    • Re:dust (Score:5, Insightful)

      by fuzzyfuzzyfungus ( 1223518 ) on Thursday June 26, 2025 @06:27AM (#65477314) Journal
      The paper claims that the photochemistry of the particles is important to the process; allows them to generate free oxygen at the target site when illuminated without the downsides of just shoving hydrogen peroxide into your sinuses and oxidizing things indiscriminately.

      I'm unclear on why small magnetic particles are being called 'robots' now; by that logic you could claim that laser printers use nanorobot swarms to produce text; or that paint is actually an aqueous suspension of visual-band signaling nanites; but it sounds like the surface chemistry of the particles is an important part of the process.

      If you were using iron you might be able to get similar effects by inductive heating once you delivered them to the target area; you absolutely could destroy cells in the immediate proximity that way; but it would come down to what option is easier to tightly control and, ideally, more discriminating between bacteria and local human cells. I assume that the actually-qualified people chose photochemistry and free oxygen over inductive heating for good reasons; but I don't know how they compare.
    • It is iron dust

  • You can pick your friends... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Austerity Empowers ( 669817 ) on Thursday June 26, 2025 @12:04AM (#65476910)

    ...you can pick your nose. But friends don't let friends have robots pick their nose.

  • These guys have all of the answers. I think I'll stick to Sudafed.

    --
    I am a classical music lover - not necessarily the contemporary stuff, but the old stuff. - Eberhard Weber

    • meth heads combined with government overreach made it a huge pain to buy real Sudafed in most states.

      • Not really. I do all the time. You just have to show them ID, and sign your name on a registry where they track how much of the shit you're getting.
        At therapeutic amounts, you're not going to get anyone's attention.

        I've got a sinus that blocks frequently causing ice-pick-to-the-skull pain. Sudafed is the only thing that opens that fucker back up.
        • Well, in Georgia you're basically limited to a box a month. When you have a cold or flu bouncing around your family, that quickly becomes woefully insufficient.

          A delightful little irony coming from that showed up was when I was buying both Sudafed and Adderall, and they were far more interested in verifying my ID for the Sudafed than for the actual amphetamine.

          • The limit is actually 9G a month.
            That's 75 12-hour doses.
            It's a little more than sufficient for a single person not abusing the medication.
            Now, you're right- that if you've got 2 people sick for 20 days each, then you've got a problem. Or 3 people sick for 14 days each.
            Or 4 people sick for 7 days each.

            However, then you can add your partner to the mix, and extend that to 4 people for 14 days.
            If you're a single parent with 3 kids- that's definitely bordering on a possible potential problem.
            • Hmm, no, it's more than that. Now I don't know if I was worried over nothing or if Walgreens screwed me. 9g = 9,000mg = 300 30mg pills. Call that 10 per day, 3-4 per adult because it's not really 12-hour, it's more like 8. So, I didn't have to make my wife pick up the second box.

              (Don't tell her that!)

              • I based my math off of the box in front of me, which may not be representative of all boxes.
                For this box, each pill is 120mg, and it's a 12h dose.
                They are ER tablets, so those might be different.
                • Really? Not having a box, I went to walgreens' website and looked at what they had to offer. Largest dose I saw was 30mg... OH! There it is! 120mg. I must not have read past acetaminophen. Which I do not care for, but that's not relevant.

    • Re:Sudafed (Score:5, Informative)

      by cusco ( 717999 ) <brian.bixby@nOsPAM.gmail.com> on Thursday June 26, 2025 @12:59AM (#65476976)

      This is not for allergies or simple infections, this is for the serious infections that won't go away no matter what. After going on 40 years of almost continual sinus infections I would take this treatment in a heartbeat if it works.

    • It's addicting (Score:1, Informative)

      by rsilvergun ( 571051 )
      I take it from time to time if I have a severely stuffed up nose in order to prevent nasal infections but it's addicting. Not in the sense that you crave it but in the sense that while it will open up your nasal passages if you stop taking it they will not just go back to normal they'll constrict more.

      So you pretty much want to use it sparingly.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward
        This is not addiction: the specific term is "rebound congestion".
      • You're thinking of rebound congestion, which is not addiction, and also pseudoephedrin doesn't cause it (generally).
        I suppose if you take enough of it, for long enough, it will, but I take shitloads of the stuff and I've never had it happen.
        If you take enough to cause rebound congestion, you're probably also seriously damaging your brain chemistry. Don't do that.
      • You've tried pseudoephedrine, right? It won't give you that rebound congestion, but might not be as strong and takes longer to work than the spray.
        • Yeah same deal. It's got the same problem. And I know it's not technically addiction it's just easier to just call it addiction whenever a chemical creates a dependency.

          I've got a prescription spray I use and it does work just not as well. But it doesn't have the side effects and it also doesn't wire me out because it's not meth
          • I won't give you a hard time about calling it addiction. I may give you a hard time about calling it "addicting", as it isn't really correct and kinda hurts my eyes, but probably not.

            Did neti pots not help? I know it's not something that would likely drive you to move, but have you vacationed anywhere that it wasn't so bad?

            I understand being driven nuts by congestion. It's annoying in the sinuses, but when it then clogs my ears, it drives me out of my damn mind. Awful. I wouldn't wish it on my 11

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by skegg ( 666571 )

      These guys have all of the answers. I think I'll stick to Sudafed.

      Resistance is futile.

  • Dust-grain sized, you say? (Score:4, Funny)

    by BoogieChile ( 517082 ) on Thursday June 26, 2025 @12:11AM (#65476922)
    I know what my sinuses would say about that. Starts with "AHHH", and ends in "CHOOO!"

  • An open source linux nasobot would be great (Score:5, Funny)

    by SubmergedInTech ( 7710960 ) on Thursday June 26, 2025 @12:28AM (#65476932)

    We could call it "sudo-fed".

  • Hell of a way to snort coke.

  • Not robots (Score:5, Insightful)

    by markdavis ( 642305 ) on Thursday June 26, 2025 @12:40AM (#65476944)

    In what way are these "robots"? They are not machines. They do not have any intelligence or programming or locomotion. They have no stored energy. They have no sensors and gather no data and cannot communicate.

    They are just particles.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by MrKaos ( 858439 )

      In what way are these "robots"? They are not machines.

      I was hoping we could call them SnotBots instead of NotBots.

    • China has a five year plan to be a robot powerhouse by 2025 [nikkei.com], so if you want funding for your research, put the word "robots" in it. Even if the robots are just magnetic particles with copper. Researchers do similar things to get funding in America.
      • Ah.. now it makes sense.

        Announcing my newest spray-on robotic window cleaner, Robo-Dex; now with nano-robotic ethanol droplets that react to sunlight and microfiber towels for a streak-free shine.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by indytx ( 825419 )

      In what way are these "robots"? They are not machines. They do not have any intelligence or programming or locomotion. They have no stored energy. They have no sensors and gather no data and cannot communicate.

      They are just particles.

      Former teen-aged me was excited for this at first because the headline made it seem like we were one step closer to . . . eradicating acne! There's a huge fortune to be made in little robots to clean pores. HUGE!

    • Most people don't know the word waldo, so they are using a word people know.

      You're correct that it's incorrect, but the cloud you're shaking your fist at isn't going to react.

      • Most people don't know the word waldo, so they are using a word people know.

        Waldoes mirror the movements of the hands that operate them. These arenâ(TM)t waldoes, but some of the equipment that surgeons use for microsurgery is.

    • Totally agree. Calling them robots, we might as well call 'tablets' (pills) as robots as welll - they go down into the stomach guided by water and change their state and trigger what-not.

  • My brain is bigger than everybody's!!!

  • What about one really big nose robot?
  • "Our proposed micro-robotic therapeutic platform offers the advantages of non-invasiveness [...]"

    Non-invasive, apart from the swarm of chinese robots in your nose, that is.

  • Our bad. We'll do better next time. We swear!

    Oh, don't breath! Well, there go the lungs. Hey, the contract you signed stops you from suing us.

    Oh, he sneezed and it got in your eye and now you're blind? Prove it, bitch!

  • What could possibly go wrong?

  • Not robots (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Tha_Zanthrax ( 521419 ) <slashdot&zanthrax,nl> on Thursday June 26, 2025 @02:52AM (#65477108) Homepage Journal

    Just tiny brushes moved around by a magnet.

    • I'm thinking the same thing. There's nothing robotic about little grains of metal you move with a magnet. That's a science demonstration for kids, not a robot.

  • The nightmare scenarios just keep replicating and replicating.

  • Safe to inhale? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Misagon ( 1135 ) on Thursday June 26, 2025 @05:22AM (#65477226)

    I would be wary of getting even a single one of these into my lungs.

    You know what else are tiny particles smaller than a human hair: asbestos.

    • Re: (Score:1, Insightful)

      by PetiePooo ( 606423 )
      Asbestos is dangerous to your lungs because the individual fibers are long and sharp and stabby and your mucus lining cannot clear them. These are little metallic beads; I expect your lungs would clear them just like any other similar sized particle of dust or plastic.

      But you go live in your protective bubble so you're safe from them. I don't mind.

      • Point of correction, speaking as an ex-Industrial Hygienist here, *some* asbestos fibers are dangerous, because they are the right size (3-5um in length) to evade the body's natural filters and penetrate the lung sacs or other areas.
        Then once in the lungs, the white blood cells start to impale themselves on the invaders, causing scarring etc.

      • Asbestos is dangerous to your lungs because the individual fibers are long and sharp and stabby and your mucus lining cannot clear them.

        Any persistent irritant in the lungs is a potential carcinogen. Soot is dangerous for this reason, and the soot that's smallest (PM2.5) is smaller than cilia so it typically persists longer, which is why it's most dangerous.

        The mechanism doesn't have to be identical to asbestos for it to be carcinogenic.

    • True. I think also it will play into the debate as to whether it is safe to blow ones nose at all; something my ENT tells me divides the profession.

  • No (Score:1)

    by bakayoko ( 570822 )
    Iâ(TM)m saying no

  • Try a Neti Pot (Score:3)

    by syntap ( 242090 ) on Thursday June 26, 2025 @07:50AM (#65477368)

    The solution is not technology and nanrobots, it is salt water. Daily saline rinse can solve sinus infections because they can't take hold. I know it looks weird, but it's literally just a plastic container and adding salt to some warm water. My wife's twice-yearly (at least) sinus infection rate went to zero.

    • Sure, but why use 2 of the most common, cheap, and easy to get substances and simple technology with thousands of years of success when you could use exotic expensive nano technology ? Which has barely been tested ? And might melt your entire head, it they accidentally press the red button?
      • Which one makes me more attractive to the opposite sex? That's the one I want.
        • Hey hey hey baby! Does this nasal nano bot make me look sexy?
          I think you'll have to go with the nanobots, pouring salt water thru your nose is really something to do in private.
    • Exactly. Have the Chinese not heard of these? That can't be it, I'm pretty sure my store-brand pot was made in China.

      An interesting proof of concept, but I'm not sure it's practical. Especially since it requires a surgical theater. Better and cheaper to just rinse it out and take an antibiotic if there's a stubborn infection.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jpatters ( 883 )

      Very important to only use distilled water for this, using tap water contaminated with brain-eating amoeba routinely kills people. There was a case a few weeks ago that made the national news.

    • What your wife experiences is different from those of us with a chronic sinus infection. Saline rinses only flush out the passages between the nose and the mouth. They don't reach the tear ducts or the sub-mandibular glands. For people like your wife, saline rinses are very effective. What I have is a latent infection that cannot fully heal. It's not the same thing.

      I've had sinus infections for 30 years. When my sinuses are inflamed all the drainage passages close off. For about 20 years my sinuses fl

  • AI taking over nose picking and blowing your nose.. Glad all the other world problems have been solved... Also nanobots use has never ended well in any scifi I have watched....
  • Calling magnetic dust a robot is just wrong. The dust has no ability to do anything without the external magnets and optical heating equipment. The idea is actually very clever and can probably help cure some very difficult infections. But it is likely to creep people out telling them we are putting tiny robots up your nose. No fear for the dust to take over the world like the concern over grey goo. Might make a great idea for a sci-fi story. Guy goes to the dr for a sinus infection. Volunteers for an exper

  • Tiny Nose Robots

  • I didn't see any mention in TFA about the possible consequences of these things ending up in the lungs. Given that they're bio-active enough to fight infections, I wonder if they wouldn't result in at least some inflammation of the lungs, and possibly a secondary infection which might be harder to fight.

  • Sounds like they are just tiny iron and copper beads, and calling them "robots" really stretches the definition of "robot" beyond recognition. If that's a robot, then a rock is an analog computer that computes the acceleration due to gravity whenever you drop it.

  • Clear infected sinuses, then go on to clear any remaining brain tissue.

  • A slashdot article with the phrase "tiny nose robots" in the title. My life is complete.

  • What could possibly go wrong?!!?!?

  • That goes rooting around your sinuses, sucking out snot. I'm sure people would be all over that one. It would certainly be safer, and probably more effective, than these little magnetic granules, and it wouldn't leave behind pieces of itself in your nose, or get sucked down your windpipe.

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