From Lego bricks to batteries, young children, and even the occasional adult, can swallow a bizarre array of objects. But a new foldable robot could now help doctors remove these without the need for surgery.

    The origami robot can be swallowed, steered through the stomach using a magnetic field and then attach itself to the foreign objects to help them pass through the digestion* system.

    The ingestible* machine, developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of York, is made using dried pig intestine* used in sausages.

    This sandwiches a material that shrinks when heated, allowing the robot to wriggle* its way through the stomach. A magnet attached to this helps control its motion.

    By using a rectangular design with slits, the researchers were able to get the robot to fold up “like an accordion,” allowing it to propel itself through the liquid filled stomach.

    The magnet can then be used to pick up metal objects like button batteries, which can become lodged in the gut* and cause damage.

    Daniela Rus, an engineer at MIT and director of its Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence* Laboratory, who led the work, said it could also be used to repair wounds in the stomach or deliver drugs.

    “The challenge for designing an ingestible robot was finding biocompatible* materials that are easy to be controlled and are amenable for the types of operations required. The robot can remove foreign objects, it can patch wounds or it can deliver medicine at designated locations. Once inside the stomach the robot could be directed to attach to the battery and lift the battery from the stomach coating and then eliminate it though the digestion system.”

    The researchers hope to develop similar ingestible robots that can carry sensors and are able to control themselves without a magnetic field.

    (SD-Agencies)