A team of researchers from the University of Bolzano, in collaboration with the ETH Zurich, has developed an innovative microscopic robot that is flexible and capable of moving completely autonomously inside the human body.
The goal of this technology is to be used in the medical field to deliver drugs locally, perform mini-biopsies or act as an endoscope. Also, in the mechanical industry it could be used to inspect complex and hard-to-reach spaces of machinery, turbines and engines.
Micro-robots are designed to be biocompatible, reconfigurable, able to respond to environmental stimuli, process information and communicate wirelessly. They respond to magnetic fields by which they are directed to perform movement. This is done through sensors of a few nanometers that engineers have built into them.
“To make such small electronic components, we have developed specialized technology to make high-performance electronics based on oxide semiconductors,” explains Niko Münzenrieder, head of the Flexible Electronics Laboratory at the University of Bolzano and leading the research. “These innovations enable robots to sense their surroundings and communicate, bringing us ever closer to the potential realization of micro robots in medical applications,” he concludes.
But there’s more: If used in the medical field, once their work is done they can be left inside the human body to dissolve through fluids since they are also biodegradable.
At a time when the shadow of Trump’s tariffs could soon be felt on the European economy and, according to experts, particularly for the Made in Italy sector, a project like this, developed and implemented on the ground, could have a positive impact on the country’s economy. In the election campaign, Donald Trump promised tariffs of up to 20 percent on all European imports if he were reelected. Moreover, at the European level, the sectors most affected by tariffs would be machinery also related to the electronics industry, motor vehicles and chemicals, which together in 2023 accounted for 68 percent of EU exports to the United States.
