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ETH Zurich's Magnet-Steered Microrobots Deliver Drugs in Large-Animal Tests
- On November 14, 2025, ETH Zurich researchers reported in Journal Science that remote-controlled microrobots delivered drugs in pigs and a sheep before dissolving.
- Faced with drug toxicity failures, researchers sought to deliver smaller doses directly to stroke-causing blockages and brain tumours, reducing side effects and aiding drug developers and clinicians.
- Using a catheter and X-ray, the team inserted a gelatine capsule loaded with medication, iron-oxide nanoparticles for magnetism, and tantalum nanoparticles for X-ray contrast, steering it at speeds from 4 millimetres to 40 centimetres per second.
- After lab work the researchers moved on to clinical tests in pigs where the microrobot delivered thrombus medication correctly in 95% of scenarios, but it is not yet trialled in humans.
- Scaling magnetic properties and safety assessments will determine progress, as ensuring sufficient magnetism at tiny capsule scale and navigating the circulatory system raise risks, experts say.
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20 Articles
20 Articles
Swiss researchers develop controllable micro-robots that bring active substances directly to blood clots or tumors.
ETH researchers present a new robot that transports drugs safely through the bloodstream.
·Zürich, Switzerland
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Total News Sources20
Leaning Left2Leaning Right1Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution57% Center
Bias Distribution
- 57% of the sources are Center
57% Center
L 29%
C 57%
14%
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