One of the largest obstacles that must be overcome by robotics scientists in relationship to micro-robots being used to in the gastro-intestinal tract, is how to get around the miniaturization issue, which at this time is a huge stumbling block.
It's a big challenge at this time with existing micro-cameras, as the battery takes up 60 percent of the alloted volume. Altogether the entire technology can only be within a few cubic millimeters.
So the question is: "how can a series of surgical robot functions be brought into a form that the patient can swallow and which is at the same time compatible with the body?"
One doctoral student at the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems of ETH Zurich, Zoltan Nagy, has come up with the idea of putting the technology in a few "robot pills," which would contain individual functions.
Then the pills could be swallowed consecutively and assemble themselves into a larger unit when they reach the stomach.
In order for the robot to assemble itself properly, components would be polarized at right angles and be fitted with a magnetic mechanism that would cause it to come together when it reaches its destination.
So far tests in an artificial stomach have been successful at a rate of 75 percent.
