Researcher Marc Miskin has developed a nanofabrication process of turning a 4-inch specialized silicon wafer into a million microscopic robots.
Developed in partnership with professors Itai Cohen, Paul McEuen and researcher Alejandro Cortese, a single micro-robot is 70 microns (0.07 mm) long and can be injected using a hypodermic needle.
The micro-robots are comprised of glass, a layer of silicon, electronic control components and silicon solar cells.
Fitted with four legs made from a bilayer of platinum and titanium that measure 100-atoms-thick each, the micro-robots are propelled by directing a laser onto the solar cells to bend the limbs.
Miskin and his colleagues are currently developing smart versions of the micro-robots with onboard sensors, clocks and controllers.
Addressing the issue of not being able to function in a human body due to the low penetration of lasers, Miskin is seeking to explore other sources of energy such as ultrasound and magnetic fields to enable the micro-robots to “make incredible journeys in the human body for missions such as drug delivery or mapping the brain”.
“When I was a kid, I remember looking in a microscope, and seeing all this crazy stuff going on. Now we’re building stuff that’s active at that size. We don’t just have to watch this world. You can actually play in it,” said Miskin.
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