Skip to main content

MIT’s snake robot is designed to crawl through blood vessels in the brain

Robo-thread

What’s creepier than a snake robot? Answer: A snake robot that’s designed to crawl through the blood vessels in your brain. That’s exactly what researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed. But, don’t worry, it’s here to help.

Recommended Videos

The steerable, magnetically controlled threadlike robot is intended to glide through the complex vasculature of the human brain. The goal is to create a new tool that could be used by doctors to deliver clot-reducing therapies to patients who have suffered from aneurysms or strokes. Currently, this is done using a catheter which is manually threaded by a surgeon, with the help of a guidewire. Finding a way to do this more efficiently could help save lives, while also reducing the physical strain on surgeons, along with reducing their exposure to X-ray imaging tool fluoroscopy.

“Stroke is the number five cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the United States,” Xuanhe Zhao, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, said in a statement. “If acute stroke can be treated within the first 90 minutes or so, patients’ survival rates could increase significantly. If we could design a device to reverse blood vessel blockage within this ‘golden hour,’ we could potentially avoid permanent brain damage. That’s our hope.”

The research combines previous MIT work involving soft water-based hydrogen and 3D-printed materials controlled by magnetism. The soft snake-like robot has, at its center, a nickel-titanium alloy which is both bendy and springy. The wire is coated with a rubbery paste, embedded with particles to give it its magnetic properties.

The team has demonstrated how the robotic thread can be controlled using a large magnet to steer it through an obstacle course of tiny rings. This is described as being similar to guiding a thread through the eye of a needle. They have also tested in on a life-size silicone replica of the brain’s major blood vessels. This recreation of an actual brain was modeled on CT scans of an actual patient’s brain. To simulate the presence of blood, it was filled with a liquid of similar viscosity.

The project was funded in part by the Office of Naval Research, the MIT Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Luke Dormehl
Former Digital Trends Contributor
I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…
Watch MIT’s Mini Cheetahs limber up for the robot apocalypse
watch mits mini cheetahs limber up for the robot apocalypse mit

Testing 9 New Mini Cheetahs

The Biomimetics Robotics team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently took a number of its talented Mini Cheetah robots for some fun in the park.

Read more
World’s first robotic brain surgery could be a game-changer for patients
robot brain surgery canada

Workflow with CorPath GRX

A neuroradiologist in Toronto has reportedly carried out the world’s first robotic brain surgery. The robot-assisted aneurysm coiling was conducted on a 64-year-old female patient at Canada’s Toronto Western Hospital and Krembil Brain Institute on November 1. The patient had suffered a major aneurysm, a bulge of a blood vessel in the brain that can be potentially lethal.

Read more
Juiced Bikes offers 20% off on all e-bikes amid signs of bankruptcy
Juiced Bikes Scrambler ebike

A “20% off sitewide” banner on top of a company’s website should normally be cause for glee among customers. Except if you’re a fan of that company’s products and its executives remain silent amid mounting signs that said company might be on the brink of bankruptcy.That’s what’s happening with Juiced Bikes, the San Diego-based maker of e-bikes.According to numerous customer reports, Juiced Bikes has completely stopped responding to customer inquiries for some time, while its website is out of stock on all products. There are also numerous testimonies of layoffs at the company.Even more worrying signs are also piling up: The company’s assets, including its existing inventory of products, is appearing as listed for sale on an auction website used by companies that go out of business.In addition, a court case has been filed in New York against parent company Juiced Inc. and Juiced Bike founder Tora Harris, according to Trellis, a state trial court legal research platform.Founded in 2009 by Harris, a U.S. high-jump Olympian, Juiced Bikes was one of the early pioneers of the direct-to-consumer e-bike brands in the U.S. market.The company’s e-bikes developed a loyal fandom through the years. Last year, Digital Trends named the Juiced Bikes Scorpion X2 as the best moped-style e-bike for 2023, citing its versatility, rich feature set, and performance.The company has so far stayed silent amid all the reports. But should its bankruptcy be confirmed, it could legitimately be attributed to the post-pandemic whiplash experienced by the e-bike industry over the past few years. The Covid-19 pandemic had led to a huge spike in demand for e-bikes just as supply chains became heavily constrained. This led to a ramp-up of e-bike production to match the high demand. But when consumer demand dropped after the pandemic, e-bike makers were left with large stock surpluses.The good news is that the downturn phase might soon be over just as the industry is experiencing a wave of mergers and acquisitions, according to a report by Houlihan Lokey.This may mean that even if Juiced Bikes is indeed going under, the brand and its products might find a buyer and show up again on streets and trails.

Read more