NTU Scientists Develop Seed-Sized Surgical Robot

Why It Matters

The robot promises truly minimally invasive surgery, enabling targeted therapy and diagnostics that could lower complications, costs and recovery times across multiple specialties.

Key Takeaways

• Seed-sized robot navigates body precisely using magnetic fields.
• Performs cutting, drug delivery, sampling, and localized heating.
• Controlled wirelessly; visualized via ultrasound, X‑ray, CT, MRI.
• Tested on chicken liver; uses biocompatible silicone materials.
• Aims for minimally invasive eye, ear, nose, future organ surgeries.

Summary

Researchers at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have unveiled a seed‑sized robot that can be injected into the body and perform a suite of surgical tasks.

The device is steered by external magnetic fields that can be modulated to move, cut tissue, deliver drugs, collect samples and generate heat for hyperthermia therapy. By selectively remagnetizing parts of its body, the robot expands its functional repertoire while remaining wireless.

Associate Professor Lam Khuan Sun explained that the robot’s tiny legs allow it to crawl to a target and back out, and that imaging modalities such as ultrasound, X‑ray, CT or MRI can locate it in real time. Tests on chicken liver and silicone‑based biocompatible materials have shown safe operation.

If scaled to clinical use, the technology could shrink incision sizes for procedures in the eye, ear, nose and eventually deeper organs, offering precise cancer treatment with reduced collateral damage and faster patient recovery.

Original Description

Scientists at NTU Singapore have developed a robot about the size of a seed. It can travel through tight spaces in the human body and perform surgical functions wirelessly. It can cut tissue, deliver drugs, collect samples and generate heat for potential cancer treatment. Associate Professor Lum Guo Zhan and PhD student Nicholas Foo shared more about how the robot works and the future of minimally invasive surgery.