CREDIT: COURTESY OF ONDER ERIN
Hopkins-led team equips untethered mini-device with ability to tap through tissue
Imagine a tiny, untethered needle that can enter the body through an incision no larger than a pin prick to perform biopsies, suture wounds, and even deliver cancer-fighting chemotherapy directly to tumors. Controlled by externally applied magnetics forces—no attached, guiding wires, or human or robotic hands—these miniscule tools promise a future of more precise, safer, and far less invasive surgery, experts say.
But there’s a hitch: As devices get smaller, so does their response to the magnetic forces that cause them to move and steer their course.
“These extremely small tools have the potential to revolutionize medicine, but as anyone who has played with magnets knows, size is important,” said Axel Krieger, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering. “The smaller the surgical tool, the less invasive the surgery, but also the weaker the device’s response to magnetic force. One of the biggest challenges facing us is how to make sure that these mini-tools can be moved with enough force to penetrate tissue and do the job they are there to do.”
“ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FACING US IS HOW TO MAKE SURE THAT THESE MINI-TOOLS CAN BE MOVED WITH ENOUGH FORCE TO PENETRATE TISSUE AND DO THE JOB THEY ARE THERE TO DO.”
Axel KriegerAssistant professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Krieger and a team of engineers from Johns Hopkins Engineering, University of Maryland, and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, have a solution: a surgical needle equipped with small magnets inside that, when stimulated by the externally applied forces, slip from one end of the needle to another, tapping against a rigid plate and supplying ample force to penetrate tissue. They call their device the “Pulse Actuated Collisions for Tissue-penetrating Needle,” or MPACT-Needle.
The team’s study, describing the first-ever demonstration that untethered magnetic needles can be forceful enough to accomplish surgery, appears in Advanced Intelligent Systems. For their experiments, Krieger and his team connected a slender thread of suturing material to the needle, using a joystick connected to a computer to deliver commands that enabled the MPACT-Needle to perform surgical suturing on a sample rabbit cornea.
“We proved that these tiny magnetic needles can have strong enough forces to perform delicate surgery with limited invasiveness,” said study leader Onder Erin, a postdoctoral fellow in mechanical engineering at Johns Hopkins. “I can envision a time when our device will also be used to perform biopsies, and even deliver therapeutics and chemotherapy directly to tumors.”
The team’s next step is to develop better, more accurate motion-control algorithms equipped with imaging modalities to precisely control the movement of the device, making surgeries and procedures safer.
Team members say that if the technology becomes successful, their new magnetic needles would make it possible to access hard-to-reach, delicate areas of the body, such as the bile duct, to deliver drugs directly to tumors, extract biopsy samples, or suture a wound rapidly and effectively to stem internal bleeding.
Original Article: On tap: Less invasive, more precise surgery, performed by a magnetic needle
More from: Johns Hopkins University | University of Maryland | Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
MPACT-Needle
- Horror as girl, 4, has dentist's needle removed from her brain after procedure went wrong
A four-year-old girl has had a dentist’s needle removed from her brain after she went in for a simple procedure. Little Sara went in for a simple procedure on a small cavity on her right jaw.
- Tuft and Needle Promo Codes for April 2024
Is there a Tuft & Needle military discount? Yes, Tuft & Needle offers a variety of discounts to eligible consumers in certain professions. Veterans can get 15% off their orders, and so can first ...
- Tuft & Needle Promo Codes
Transform your bedtime routine and relish a blissful oasis you can get only from Tuft & Needle Essential original mattress. Get yours at a 15% discount with the coupon.
- Top 8 Best Interchangeable Knitting Needles in 2024
Interchangeable knitting needles have revolutionized knitting for everyone, from beginners to experts. These versatile needles enable you to adjust the needle ends and cables to create any size or ...
- Tuft & Needle Coupons for April 2024
How much does shipping cost from Tuft & Needle? Tuft & Needle offers free delivery on all orders, except for shoppers located in Hawaii and Alaska. If you’d like Tuft & Needle to set up your new ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
MPACT-Needle
[google_news title=”” keyword=”MPACT-Needle” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Magnetic needles
- Some Student Loan Borrowers Need to Consolidate ASAP to Get Forgiveness
Some federal borrowers who have been paying down their student loans for at least a decade could be eligible for forgiveness of their remaining balance — but they have to act soon. To correct what it ...
- Dark matter: A new experiment aims to turn the ghostly substance into actual light
A ghost is haunting our universe. This has been known in astronomy and cosmology for decades. Observations suggest that about 85% of all the matter in the universe is mysterious and invisible. These ...
- 18 Brilliant Uses for Clear Nail Polish That Are Guaranteed to Make Your Life Easier
Have a bottle of clear nail polish sitting in your medicine cabinet? You'd be surprised at the brilliant uses for clear nail polish that can help make your life easier. From reattaching a button to ...
- Pokemon Fan Art Shows What Nosepass Would Look Like as a Human
A Pokemon fan artist redesigns the Rock Pokemon Nosepass to show what it would look like as a human and shares their finished work with other fans.
- Your Absence Is Darkness — a rich mosaic of Icelandic storytelling
Jón Kalman Stefánsson’s amnesiac narrator pieces together past and present in a radiant translation by Philip Roughton ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Magnetic needles
[google_news title=”” keyword=”magnetic needles” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]