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Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

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This 4.4 mm Robot Can Cut Tissue, Deliver Drugs, and Fight Disease Inside the Human Body

Medical technology is steadily moving toward a future where treatments become smaller, smarter, and less invasive. Imagine a tiny robot, no bigger than a seed, traveling inside the human body to deliver medicine exactly where it is needed, collect tissue samples, cut diseased tissue, or even help fight cancer—all without major surgery. What once seemed like science fiction is now becoming reality.

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, have developed a groundbreaking miniature robot that may significantly change the future of medical treatment. The robot, which is only 4.4 millimeters long, is about the size of a small seed and can perform five different surgical functions wirelessly.

The study, led by Lum Guo Zhan and published in the journal Advanced Materials, marks a major step toward highly precise and minimally invasive surgeries.

A Tiny Robot With Big Abilities

Miniature robots have attracted attention from researchers around the world because they may one day make surgeries safer and less painful. Traditional surgical procedures often require cuts, large instruments, and long recovery times. Small robots operating inside the body could reduce these challenges significantly.

What makes the NTU robot unique is that despite its tiny size, it can perform several complex tasks. The robot can:

  • Move across soft and uneven surfaces

  • Cut biological tissues

  • Deliver drugs to specific locations

  • Grip and collect tissue samples

  • Generate heat remotely

The robot can switch from one function to another in less than one second, allowing it to adapt quickly to different medical tasks.

According to the researchers, many existing miniature magnetic robots can perform only one or two functions. This new design dramatically expands those abilities.

How Does the Robot Work?

The robot is controlled using weak magnetic fields, meaning no wires or batteries are required inside the body. Scientists use external magnetic coils to guide and control its movements.

The robot itself is made from soft and flexible materials called PDMS and Ecoflex, which are silicone-based substances commonly used in soft robotics. These materials can bend and deform while maintaining strength.

Inside these materials, researchers embedded tiny magnetic particles measuring just 5 micrometers in size.

The heart of the robot is a specially designed magnetic module that can change its magnetic orientation. It can be:

  • Magnetized

  • Demagnetized

  • Remagnetized in different directions

Each magnetic configuration activates a specific tool or function.

For example:

  • One configuration activates a miniature cutting blade

  • Another releases particles that simulate drug delivery

  • Another enables grasping and storing tissue samples

  • Another produces heat

This allows a single tiny robot to behave like several different medical tools combined into one compact device.

Solving a Major Robotics Problem

One of the biggest challenges in building small magnetic robots is controlling different parts independently.

At very small scales, magnetic fields often affect the entire robot simultaneously. Instead of one section moving while another stays still, the whole device may react like one giant magnet. This limits precision and reduces functionality.

The NTU research team solved this issue through an innovative design.

Different regions of the robot were engineered so that only specific sections respond to a particular magnetic signal. This means one part of the robot can change shape and activate a function while the rest of the body remains unchanged.

This improvement gives the robot much greater control and precision.

A New Type of Movement

Most miniature magnetic robots have five degrees of freedom, meaning they can move in three directions and rotate in two directions.

The NTU robot introduces a sixth movement capability: rolling.

Rolling allows the robot to spin around its own long axis. While this may sound like a small change, it greatly improves navigation.

Inside the human body, robots would need to travel through spaces that are:

  • Narrow

  • Soft

  • Curved

  • Irregular

The additional movement gives the robot more flexibility and control while moving through such complex environments.

Unlike some soft, slime-like robots being studied today, the NTU robot has a solid but flexible body, making it stronger and easier to retrieve after use.

Testing the Robot on Biological Tissues

To determine whether the robot could realistically perform medical tasks, researchers tested it on biological tissue models.

The experiments included:

  • Chicken liver tissues

  • Gelatin-based materials designed to mimic soft human tissue

The results showed that the robot successfully performed several functions:

Cutting tissue

The robot activated its tiny blade and cut through biological tissue samples.

Delivering simulated drugs

Researchers demonstrated controlled release of particles representing medication.

Collecting tissue samples

The robot could grip and store samples, which could eventually help doctors perform biopsies.

Producing therapeutic heat

Scientists also tested the robot's heating capability.

To generate heat, they exposed the device to a high-frequency alternating magnetic field. Magnetic materials within the robot responded by producing localized heat remotely.

This approach resembles magnetic hyperthermia, an area of cancer research where heat is used to damage or destroy cancer cells while minimizing harm to nearby healthy tissues.

Is It Safe for the Human Body?

Safety is critical before any medical device can be considered for use in humans.

The research team evaluated the robot's materials by exposing them to human skin cells under laboratory conditions.

The findings were encouraging:

More than 99 percent of the cells remained healthy and viable, showing results similar to normal control groups.

This suggests that the materials used in the robot are largely non-toxic under the tested conditions.

However, researchers emphasize that additional studies and extensive testing will still be necessary before the technology can be used in real patients.

The Future of Medical Robots

The NTU team spent seven years developing this technology and has already filed a technology disclosure through NTU's innovation company.

Researchers are now exploring ways to improve future versions of the robot by integrating:

  • Medical imaging systems

  • Sensors

  • Artificial organ models

  • Clinical navigation technologies

The team is also working closely with surgeons to understand how these tiny robots might fit into real hospital procedures.

Medical experts believe such technologies could eventually transform healthcare.

Yeong Leong Litt Leonard noted that these miniature robots may one day deliver medication, perform biopsies, and administer therapeutic treatments remotely.

Some experts even believe such systems could replace parts of traditional interventional procedures in the future.

A Small Machine With Huge Potential

This seed-sized robot demonstrates how modern medicine is moving toward a future where treatment becomes more precise and less invasive.

While the technology is still in development, the possibilities are remarkable. Instead of large surgical instruments entering the body, doctors may someday guide tiny intelligent robots through narrow pathways to perform complex procedures with minimal discomfort.

For patients, that could mean smaller incisions, faster recovery, fewer complications, and more targeted treatments.

Sometimes the biggest medical breakthroughs come in the smallest packages—and this tiny robot may be one of them.

Reference: C. S. X.Ng, Y. X.Yeoh, N. Y. W.Foo, K.Radhakrishnan, and G. Z.Lum, “Miniature Soft Robot With Magnetically Reprogrammable Surgical Functions.” Advanced Materials (2026): e23056. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202523056

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