A Magnetic Tentacle Robot Can Be Guided Through Your Lungs

Let's say your lungs aren't working properly and you're in the hospital. What do doctors do in order to better comprehend what is occurring? You would anticipate a chest x-ray or something similar. But what if they made the decision to insert a robot tentacle into your lungs to survey the situation? One has been created specifically for that purpose by researchers at the University of Leeds in the UK.

The soft-bodied robot with magnetic tentacles—which appears to be the current name—has cylinders that link to form its body. For the delivery of therapy and medication, as well as to collect tissue samples, it can be magnetically steered through the lungs. Don't worry if that seems spooky. The primary researcher said it exactly like that. He acknowledged the objective was to find the least invasive technique to examine the deepest and most difficult to access areas of the human body and stated, "It's creepy. Additionally, considering that the ultimate purpose is to save lives, a small amount of creep factor may be a fair price to pay.