Tumbling microrobots tackle inflammatory bowel disease — and that’s only the beginning

It’s the stuff of science fiction — or it was until recently. Fantastic Voyage, a 1966 movie and related book, featured miniaturized submarine crew members traversing an injured scientist’s body to repair brain damage, and the 2014 animated film Big Hero 6 presented swarming healthcare microrobots.

For years, biomedical engineers have dreamed of bringing such technologies to life. For example, what if robots smaller than a grain of rice could move through the human body to deliver medications, and eventually also conduct diagnostic tests, clear blood clots and even perform surgeries — all with greater precision, fewer side effects and less trauma than conventional medicine allows?

These visions are becoming realities through research at Purdue’s College of Engineering in collaboration with the Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM). Our ultimate goal is to design and implement an integrated microrobotics system for targeted delivery of custom therapeutics inside the human body for various diseases.