Archana Patil and Sonali Singh
Aurora’s Engineering College, Bhongir.
E-mail ID’s: arch_patil@yahoo.com and pooja_ur_friend143@yahoo.com
Introduction:
Imagine going to the doctor to get treatment for a persistent fever. Instead of giving you a pill or a shot, the doctor refers you to a special medical team which implants a tiny robot into your bloodstream. The robot detects the cause of your fever, travels to the appropriate system and provides a dose of medication directly to the infected area. Surprisingly, we 're not that far off from seeing devices like this actually used in medical procedures. They 're called nanorobots and engineering teams around the world are working to design robots that will eventually be used to treat everything from hemophilia to cancer. Assuming the Nano robot isn 't meant to stay in the patient forever, it also has to be able to make its way out of the host.
In this presentation, we 'll learn about the potential applications of Nano robots, the various ways Nano robots will navigate and move through our bodies, the tools they will use to heal patients, the progress teams around the world have made so far and what theorists see in the future.
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Powering the Nano robot:
Just like the navigation systems, nanotechnologists are considering both external and internal power sources. Some designs rely on the Nano robot using the patient 's own body as a way of generating power. Nano robots could get power directly from the bloodstream. A Nano robot with mounted electrodes could form a battery using the electrolytes found in blood. Another option is to create chemical reactions with blood to burn it for energy. The Nano robot would hold a small supply of chemicals that would become a fuel source when combined with blood.
A Nano robot could use the patient 's body heat to create power, but there would need to be a gradient of temperatures to manage it. Power generation would be a result of the Seebeck effect.
References: • Hyper physics. http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html • Introduction to Thermoelectric. http://www.thermoelectrics.com/introduction.htm • Thompson, Richard E., M.D. "Nanotechnology: Science Fiction? Or Next Challenge for the Ethics Committee?" Thy Physician Executive. May/June 2007. • www.howstuffworks.com