Several types of cancer—such as brain, lung, pancreatic and bladder—may form tumors that pose challenges to treatment.
Now, a research team at the University of Edinburgh has demonstrated that micro-robots could be magnetically directed to the site of the tumor and then deliver the chemotherapy dose, The Scientist noted. The team “developed an innovative, biohybrid microrobot, engineering natural microalgae with a synthetic magnetite coating. Artificial intelligence algorithms enabled these microrobots to autonomously track and deliver chemotherapeutic drugs to bladder tumors in mice, leading to enhanced targeting precision and tissue penetration compared to conventional therapies.
They used a diatom Coscinodiscus granii as the base, due to its unique and versatile structure, which is composed of multi-layered porous silica shells, which provide a large surface area onto which they could load the chemotherapy drug; the unusual surface also enabled slow drug release.
On top of the shell, the researchers “designed a porous, hollow system with surface-bound magnetite nanoparticles. They controlled the microrobot using magnetic forces and secured drug cargo with a sealing layer.” The experiment was conducted on mice, and the magnetite shell allowed the micro-bots to be detected by ultrasound imaging.
“A deep learning algorithm received the real-time ultrasound video feed and rapidly processed it to pinpoint both the bladder tumor and the moving microrobots. It then automatically calculated optimal navigation paths and adjusted an external magnetic field framework to guide the microrobot swarm directly into the bladder cavity and to the tumor site.
“The doxorubicin-loaded magnetite C. granii microrobots increased drug penetration into tumor tissue within just 30 minutes of treatment by more than 10-fold. The microrobots reduced tumor burden in mice to less than three percent after one week, outperforming standard bladder therapy.”
The team hopes that this form of treatment can be further refined for the targeted treatment of many types of cancers in humans.