A robot that travels deep into the lungs to detect the most subtle diseases.. "Video"

Researchers at the University of Leeds in the UK have created a "magnetic sensory robot" that measures just 2mm in diameter, and they hope it will be able to navigate some of the smallest air passages in our lungs.

While a bronchoscope is used to examine the lungs nowadays, this cannot be passed into very narrow airways without an additional catheter being attached, which is cumbersome work and difficult to completely control.

For its part, the new technology is independently controlled using external magnets installed on robotic arms and does not require X-ray imaging during the procedure.

The researchers hope that the device will help doctors diagnose and treat various lung diseases.

Bronchoscopy allows doctors to peer inside our lungs and has helped them greatly diagnose, monitor and treat a variety of conditions, from detecting lung cancer to removing foreign bodies from the lungs (which is often more necessary than you think!).

The researchers call their gadget a robot with magnetic sensors.

It consists of interconnected cylindrical segments approximately 80 mm in length and only 2 mm in diameter (which is twice the diameter of a ballpoint pen tip).

The parts are made of rubber latex that contains micro-magnetic particles, which allows it to be manipulated with an external magnet.

Magnetic fields applied by external magnets also cause the elastic to twist and advance through narrow airways, says MedGadget.

The researchers say that this technology, which allows access to "the bronchial tree in most areas of the lung", will greatly help in the detection and treatment of lung cancers, as it "eliminates the need for patients to be x-rayed during the procedure."

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