Robots are already hard at work in North Texas serving food, changing car tires, sorting packages, mowing grass, and delivering meals to drones. But now much smaller robots may soon be on the case—to help maintain your healthy eyes.
Southern Methodist University is collaborating with Vermont-based Applied Research Associates (ARA) to develop “microrobots” for vitreous hemorrhage mitigation and accelerated recovery. A vitreous hemorrhage occurs when blood leaks into an eye’s vitreous gel, the clear substance at the center of the eye.
This inner-eye bleeding can lead to months of vision impairment and discomfort, and in extreme cases can lead to complete loss of sight.
That’s bad enough for everyday people, but ARA, which partners with medical and academic organizations, also partners with the U.S. military—and vitreous hemorrhages can radically reduce the combat readiness of our armed forces.
To address this, SMU and ARA researchers aim to build “small-scale microrobots” using nanotechnology. Through targeted drug delivery via an injection, the microrobots will go inside the human eye and break down red blood cells.
The project will be led by ARA Senior Research Scientist Louis William Rogowski, PhD, and supported by Min Jun Kim, PhD, Robert C. Womack Endowed Chair Professor at SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering.
A less invasive treatment
Image: Applied Research Associates
“The idea is that this microrobotics approach would be less invasive than current treatment methods and accelerate the recovery of patients,” Rogowski said in a statement. “This is the first initial effort to make this idea a reality.”
ARA’s location in Randolph, Vermont, will host the laboratory facilities that will carry out the experiments, working in partnership with SMU’s facilities in Dallas. The project’s goal: producing innovative microrobots, advanced control systems, and quantitative data that will show the treatment is effective.
Several SMU graduate students will take part in the research in support of their studies, ARA and SMU said. Additionally, consultants from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus will be bringing their expertise to the project.
The research effort is fully sponsored by the federal government through the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium and the Defense Health Agency.
Other microrobotics applications
Photo: Applied Research Associates
Beyond the above study, ARA and its partners are leveraging microrobotics for a number of applications including targeted drug delivery, minimally invasive surgery, environmental remediation, encryption, and defense applications, the company said.
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