Micro-patching skin for serious burn treatment

Title: Micro-Patching: A Revolutionary Approach to Burn Treatment

Introduction
Severe burn injuries present significant challenges in treatment and recovery, often requiring extensive skin grafting procedures that can be traumatic for patients. However, an innovative technique called micro-patching, which combines the precision of robotic surgery with the latest advancements in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, offers a promising solution to revolutionize burn treatment.

The Micro-Patching Concept
Micro-patching involves using a robotic surgical system to harvest tiny, checkerboard-patterned skin grafts from healthy donor sites on the patient’s body. These micro-grafts, comprising just 50% of the skin in the treated area, are then transplanted to the burn site, leaving the remaining 50% as empty spaces. The interspaces are then filled with a synthetic or bio-engineered matrix that supports and guides the regeneration of new skin tissue.

Advantages of Micro-Patching

1. Minimally Invasive: By harvesting only half of the skin from the donor area, micro-patching minimizes the trauma and scarring associated with traditional skin grafting methods.
2. Maximizing Donor Skin Utilization: The 50% micro-graft approach effectively doubles the area that can be treated with the same amount of donor skin, which is particularly valuable in cases of extensive burns where healthy skin is limited.
3. Promoting Healing and Integration: The interlacing of micro-grafts with a supportive matrix promotes wound healing, reduces scarring, and facilitates the integration of the transplanted skin with the surrounding tissue.

Robotic Precision in Micro-Patching:

The integration of robotic systems in micro-patching is not just a technological marvel but a cornerstone of this innovative approach. These advanced robotic platforms offer unprecedented precision and consistency, significantly reducing the margin of error compared to traditional manual procedures. By employing laser-guided tools and AI-driven algorithms, the robots can harvest and transplant micro-grafts with meticulous accuracy, ensuring optimal placement and orientation. This level of precision is crucial for the checkerboard pattern of micro-grafts to seamlessly integrate with the synthetic matrix, facilitating a more natural and efficient healing process. The use of robotics also opens the door to less invasive surgeries, quicker recovery times, and minimized scarring, marking a significant step forward in patient care.

The Role of Nature in Skin Regeneration
While the human body has a remarkable capacity for skin regeneration, the process can be slow and may result in suboptimal outcomes, especially in the case of large or deep burns. If micro-patching were to be performed without the use of a supportive matrix, leaving the interspaces empty, the natural healing process would still occur. Epithelial cells would migrate into the empty spaces, proliferating and eventually covering the gaps. However, this natural regeneration is limited by factors such as wound size, the presence of a conducive environment for cell growth, and the availability of essential nutrients and oxygen.

Integrating a Matrix for In Situ Skin Growth
To overcome the limitations of natural healing and ensure more uniform and functional skin recovery, micro-patching incorporates a matrix that mimics the extracellular matrix of the skin. This scaffold provides a framework for cells to adhere to, grow, and eventually form new skin tissue. The ideal matrix should be biocompatible, promoting cell attachment and proliferation, and biodegradable, gradually dissolving as natural skin tissue replaces it. Materials such as hydrogels, which closely mimic the natural skin environment, and biodegradable polymers, designed to degrade at a rate matching skin tissue regeneration, are promising candidates for this application.

Innovations in Biodegradable Matrix Design: The development of biodegradable matrices for use in micro-patching represents a fusion of materials science and biomedical engineering. These matrices are designed to mimic the natural extracellular matrix of the skin, providing a scaffold that supports cell adhesion and growth. Engineered from polymers such as polylactic acid (PLA) and polyglycolic acid (PGA), or natural substances like collagen and alginate, these matrices gradually degrade at a controlled rate. This degradation is synchronized with the body’s own tissue regeneration process, ensuring that as new skin tissue forms, the scaffold dissolves, leaving no trace behind. This process not only supports the formation of healthy, new skin but also reduces the need for subsequent surgeries to remove non-biodegradable materials, enhancing the overall healing experience for patients.

Protective Measures and Healing Timeline
To prevent infection, maintain moisture levels, and protect the vulnerable new tissue from mechanical damage, the treated area should be covered with a protective case or shell. This semi-permeable covering allows for gas exchange, enabling the wound to ‘breathe’ while keeping it moist and protected.

The timeline for skin regeneration using a matrix depends on factors such as the extent of the burn, the patient’s overall health, and the specific materials and cell types used. Initial cell migration and proliferation could begin within days after the procedure, with the formation of a new epidermal layer over the matrix taking several weeks. Complete integration and maturation of the regenerated skin may extend over several months, during which the biodegradable matrix gradually dissolves, leaving behind newly formed skin tissue.

Enhancing Patient Experience Through Micro-Patching: Micro-patching stands out not just for its technological and biological innovations but for its patient-centric approach to burn treatment. By significantly reducing the need for large donor skin areas, this method lessens the physical and emotional burden on patients, making the healing journey less daunting. The minimized scarring and faster recovery times associated with micro-patching can have profound effects on a patient’s self-esteem and mental health, often critical aspects of recovery that are overlooked in traditional treatments. Furthermore, the less invasive nature of the procedure, combined with the potential for reduced pain and discomfort, underscores the commitment of micro-patching to not only heal the body but also to nurture the patient’s overall well-being.

Enhancing Micro-Patching with Advances in Regenerative Medicine
The potential of micro-patching can be further enhanced by incorporating cutting-edge developments in regenerative medicine:

1. Lab-Grown Skin Cells: Integrating lab-grown skin cells, such as keratinocytes and fibroblasts, derived from the patient’s own tissue into the synthetic or bio-engineered matrix could improve healing and reduce the risk of rejection.
2. Stem Cell Integration: Incorporating stem cells into the matrix has shown promise in promoting more versatile and resilient skin tissue regeneration.
3. Advanced Biomaterials: Researchers are exploring various biomaterials, such as hydrogels and biodegradable polymers, to create skin substitutes that closely mimic the natural skin environment and promote better integration with the patient’s tissue.

Challenges and Future Directions
While micro-patching holds immense potential, several challenges need to be addressed:

1. Technological Advancements: Further development of precise robotic systems and refined techniques for harvesting and transplanting micro-grafts will be crucial.
2. Clinical Trials and Safety: Extensive research, including clinical trials, will be necessary to demonstrate the safety, feasibility, and effectiveness of micro-patching.
3. Regulatory and Ethical Considerations: Micro-patching will need to navigate regulatory approvals and address ethical concerns related to patient access and informed consent.
4. Surgeon Training: Implementing micro-patching will require specialized training for surgeons and medical staff to effectively use the robotic systems and manage the integration of micro-grafts and synthetic matrices.

Conclusion
Micro-patching represents a transformative approach to burn treatment, leveraging the synergy between robotic precision, regenerative medicine, and the body’s natural healing processes. By minimizing trauma, maximizing donor skin utilization, and promoting efficient healing through the integration of micro-grafts and supportive matrices, micro-patching has the potential to revolutionize burn care.

As research and development in this field continue, micro-patching could offer new hope for burn patients, improving outcomes, reducing scarring, and enhancing quality of life. While challenges remain, the promise of this innovative approach is significant, and its successful implementation could mark a major milestone in the advancement of burn treatment and patient care. As advancements in materials science, stem cell research, and tissue engineering converge with the micro-patching technique, we can anticipate even more sophisticated and personalized solutions for skin regeneration in the future.

Early Detection and Targeted Treatment of Ovarian Cancer with Piezoelectric Cilia-Propelled Micro-Robots

Ovarian cancer, notorious for its subtle symptoms and the challenge it presents for early detection, remains one of the most lethal gynecological malignancies. Traditional diagnostic methods often detect the disease at advanced stages, when treatment options are limited and less effective. However, the advent of piezoelectric cilia-propelled micro-robots introduces a revolutionary approach to detecting and treating ovarian cancer at its onset, potentially transforming patient outcomes through early intervention.

Navigation and Propulsion

The micro-robots are designed to navigate the intricate pathways of the female reproductive system, leveraging their innovative propulsion system. Piezoelectric cilia cover the surface of the device, enabling fluid and precise movement through bodily fluids and narrow passages. These cilia extend, retract, and bend in coordinated wave-like motions, mimicking the mechanisms of organic creatures, to propel the device forward.

The cilia are powered by an inductive mechanism, which harnesses energy from external fields, such as ultrasound or electromagnetic radiation. A coil running the full length of the micro-robot maximizes the aerial size, enhancing energy harvesting efficiency. The intensity of an external signal beam modulates the cilia’s movements, allowing for precise steering and navigation towards the target location.

Early Detection

Once introduced into the uterus through a minimally invasive procedure, the micro-robot navigates along the fallopian tubes to reach the ovaries. Its on-board diagnostic tools, such as micro-ultrasound or optical coherence tomography, enable high-resolution imaging and video capture of ovarian tissue. These advanced imaging capabilities facilitate the identification of early-stage tumors or abnormal tissue changes that may be missed by conventional techniques.

Furthermore, the micro-robot can collect tissue samples for biopsy using its integrated micro-tools, minimizing patient discomfort and risk associated with traditional procedures. These samples can be analyzed in real-time or delivered for laboratory examination, enabling rapid diagnosis and immediate clinical decision-making.

Targeted Treatment

Upon detecting malignant cells or tumors, the micro-robot can initiate an immediate therapeutic response. Its payload capabilities allow for the delivery of targeted chemotherapeutic agents, such as cisplatin or paclitaxel, directly to the tumor site. This localized drug delivery system minimizes systemic side effects typically associated with chemotherapy, improving the patient’s quality of life during treatment.

Moreover, the micro-robot can administer novel therapies tailored to the genetic makeup of the tumor. For instance, it can deliver RNA interference (RNAi) molecules or CRISPR-Cas9 components to silence or edit specific genes involved in tumor growth and progression, enhancing the efficacy of anticancer therapies and paving the way for personalized medicine.

Post-Treatment Monitoring and Follow-up

Beyond its diagnostic and therapeutic roles, the micro-robot can also be employed for post-treatment monitoring and follow-up checks. Its on-board sensors and imaging capabilities enable the detection of potential recurrences or metastases, allowing for timely intervention and adjustments to the treatment regimen.

Furthermore, the micro-robot can be equipped with additional diagnostic tools, such as biosensors for detecting specific biomarkers or monitoring treatment response in real-time. This multifunctional approach ensures comprehensive care and improved patient outcomes.

Safety and Regulatory Considerations

The design of the piezoelectric cilia-propelled micro-robots prioritizes safety and biocompatibility, minimizing the risk of adverse reactions or tissue damage. The gentle, biomimetic movement of the cilia and the use of biocompatible materials ensure that the device is suitable for sensitive applications within the human body.

However, rigorous clinical trials and regulatory approval processes will be required to bring this technology to clinical use. Collaboration between engineers, medical professionals, biologists, and materials scientists will be essential to address any potential challenges and ensure the safe and effective implementation of this innovative technology.

Future Prospects

The piezoelectric cilia-propelled micro-robots represent a significant leap forward in the battle against ovarian cancer and potentially other malignancies. By combining early detection capabilities with the potential for immediate and targeted treatment, these devices offer a comprehensive approach to managing a disease that has long challenged medical professionals. As this technology advances, it holds the promise of not only improving survival rates for ovarian cancer patients but also serving as a model for addressing other cancers and diseases with similar diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.

The journey towards realizing the full potential of these micro-robots is just beginning, and it offers a hopeful horizon for those affected by ovarian cancer and beyond. With continued research, development, and multidisciplinary collaboration, this innovative technology has the potential to revolutionize the field of minimally invasive medicine and improve patient outcomes on a global scale.

Compact and Retrievable Design

To facilitate seamless navigation through intricate anatomical structures, including the narrow fallopian tubes of the female reproductive system, the micro-robots are designed with diameters ranging from 0.1 mm to 1 mm. This compact size allows for minimally invasive insertion and movement without causing tissue damage or discomfort.

While maintaining a slender profile, the micro-robots can have lengths between 5 mm and 30 mm, depending on the specific diagnostic or therapeutic payload they carry. The elongated shape serves multiple purposes:

1. Enhanced Energy Harvesting: The increased length allows for a larger coil to be integrated along the body of the micro-robot, maximizing the surface area for inductive energy harvesting from external fields. This results in more efficient power generation for the piezoelectric cilia propulsion system.
2. Increased Payload Capacity: The additional volume provided by a longer design enables the micro-robots to accommodate larger payloads, such as advanced imaging modules, biopsy tools, or higher doses of therapeutic agents. This versatility allows for more comprehensive diagnostic and treatment capabilities within a single device.
3. Improved Navigation: The elongated shape, coupled with the precise control over the piezoelectric cilia, enables efficient propulsion and steering through complex pathways, allowing the micro-robots to navigate intricate anatomical structures with greater ease.

Retrievability is a crucial consideration, ensuring that the micro-robots can be safely removed from the body after completing their tasks. Several mechanisms are being explored to facilitate retrieval, such as:

1. Tethered Design: The micro-robots can be attached to a thin, biocompatible tether or guidewire, allowing for controlled retrieval by gently pulling the tether after the procedure is complete.
2. Magnetic Guidance: Incorporating small magnetic components within the micro-robots enables their retrieval through the application of external magnetic fields, guiding them back towards the point of entry.
3. Biodegradable Materials: In certain applications, the micro-robots can be constructed using biodegradable materials that safely dissolve or are absorbed by the body over time, eliminating the need for physical retrieval.

Regardless of the retrieval method employed, rigorous testing and safety protocols will be implemented to ensure the micro-robots can be reliably removed from the body without any adverse effects.

By carefully balancing the dimensional constraints with the benefits of increased length, this micro-robotic platform maximizes its energy harvesting capabilities, payload capacity, and navigational agility, further enhancing its potential for minimally invasive medical applications across various anatomical regions.

Versatile Micro-Robotic Platform for Minimally Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment

While the initial focus has been on ovarian cancer detection and treatment, the piezoelectric cilia-propelled micro-robotic platform holds immense potential for a wide range of medical applications throughout the human body. Its compact, worm-like design allows for navigation through narrow passages, enabling access to deep-seated organs and tissues, such as the lungs, kidneys, bladder, and even the intricate network of arteries.

Autonomous Navigation and Obstacle Avoidance

Beyond external signal beam control, these micro-robots are designed with intelligent autonomous capabilities. Sensors at the leading tip continuously scan the surrounding environment, enabling real-time obstacle detection and avoidance. If an obstruction is encountered, the on-board control system can selectively activate or deactivate specific cilia to steer the device around the obstacle without the need for constant external input or video feedback, streamlining the navigation process.

Integration with Artificial Intelligence and Tele-Operation

While autonomous navigation is a key feature, these micro-robots can also be seamlessly integrated with advanced artificial intelligence systems and tele-operation capabilities. Sensory data, including high-resolution imaging and diagnostic readouts, can be relayed in real-time to external AI platforms for analysis and decision support. This symbiotic relationship between the micro-robot and AI allows for rapid data processing, pattern recognition, and predictive modeling, enhancing diagnostic accuracy and treatment planning.

Additionally, experienced human operators can remotely control and guide the micro-robots through complex anatomical structures, leveraging their expertise in conjunction with the device’s capabilities. This hybrid approach combines the best of autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, and human intelligence for optimal performance and adaptability.

Modular Design and Customization

The micro-robotic platform is designed with a modular architecture, allowing for customization and integration of various diagnostic, therapeutic, and sensing payloads. Depending on the target application, the micro-robots can be outfitted with specialized tools, such as micro-ultrasound probes, optical coherence tomography modules, biopsy tools, drug delivery mechanisms, or biosensors for real-time monitoring of biomarkers or treatment responses.

This versatility enables the development of tailored solutions for different medical conditions, ranging from cancer detection and treatment to cardiovascular interventions, minimally invasive surgery, or even targeted drug delivery for neurological disorders.

Biocompatibility and Safety Considerations

Regardless of the application, the design of these micro-robots prioritizes biocompatibility and safety. The gentle, biomimetic movement of the piezoelectric cilia minimizes the risk of tissue damage, while the use of carefully selected materials ensures compatibility with the human body. Rigorous testing and adherence to regulatory standards will be crucial in ensuring the safe and responsible deployment of this technology.

Multidisciplinary Collaboration and Future Prospects

The development and implementation of this micro-robotic platform necessitate a collaborative effort spanning multiple disciplines, including engineering, medicine, biology, materials science, and artificial intelligence. By fostering cross-disciplinary partnerships and leveraging diverse expertise, researchers can overcome challenges, explore new possibilities, and drive the technology towards its full potential.

As this innovative platform continues to evolve, it holds the promise of revolutionizing minimally invasive medicine, enabling early and accurate diagnosis, targeted treatment delivery, and real-time monitoring across a wide spectrum of medical conditions. With its versatility, adaptability, and potential for integration with emerging technologies, the piezoelectric cilia-propelled micro-robotic platform represents a significant stride towards improving patient outcomes and advancing the frontiers of healthcare.

Versatile Micro-Robotic Platform: Enabling Minimally Invasive Diagnostics and Therapeutics Across Multiple Anatomical Regions

The piezoelectric cilia-propelled micro-robotic platform presents a versatile and adaptable solution for minimally invasive medical interventions across various anatomical regions. While the initial focus has been on the early detection and targeted treatment of ovarian cancer, the modular design and customizable payloads of these micro-robots enable tailoring their dimensions, capabilities, and functionalities to suit diverse medical applications.

Scalability and Adaptability

The micro-robots can be scaled in size, ranging from diameters as small as 0.1 mm to larger dimensions, depending on the target anatomical region and the required diagnostic or therapeutic payloads. This scalability allows for seamless navigation through intricate structures, such as the fallopian tubes, as well as larger pathways, like the gastrointestinal tract or cardiovascular system.

The modular architecture of the micro-robotic platform facilitates the integration of various payloads, including advanced imaging modalities, biopsy tools, drug delivery mechanisms, and biosensors. This adaptability enables the development of tailored solutions for different medical conditions, ensuring optimal diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities for each application.

Potential Applications

1. Urinary Tract: The micro-robots can be introduced through the urethra, allowing access to the bladder and potentially the kidneys. While the renal tubules may be too fine for direct navigation, the micro-robots could explore the renal pelvis and proximal regions of the ureters, enabling diagnostic imaging, biopsy collection, or targeted drug delivery for conditions like kidney stones, tumors, or infections.
2. Gastrointestinal Tract: By leveraging the scalability of the platform, larger micro-robots could be designed for navigation through the esophagus, stomach, and intestines. These devices could be equipped with advanced imaging capabilities, tissue sampling tools, or targeted therapies for conditions such as colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel diseases, or gastrointestinal bleeding.
3. Cardiovascular System: Integrating specialized imaging modalities and therapeutic payloads, the micro-robots could potentially navigate through the cardiovascular system, assisting in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions like atherosclerosis, arterial blockages, or even targeted drug delivery to specific regions of the heart.
4. Respiratory System: While the current size constraints may limit direct navigation into the smaller bronchioles, larger micro-robots could potentially explore the upper respiratory tract, enabling diagnostic imaging, biopsy collection, or targeted therapies for conditions like throat cancer, respiratory infections, or obstructive pulmonary diseases.

Future Advancements and Miniaturization

Continuous advancements in micro-fabrication techniques and materials science could enable further miniaturization of these micro-robots, opening up new possibilities for accessing even smaller anatomical structures or enabling swarm robotics approaches with multiple coordinated micro-robots. Additionally, the integration with emerging technologies, such as nano-sensors, lab-on-a-chip devices, or molecular imaging probes, could further enhance the diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities of the platform.

User Interface and Control Systems

To facilitate seamless operation and precise navigation, advanced user interfaces and control systems will be developed for human operators. These could include intuitive control modalities, augmented reality visualization, or haptic feedback mechanisms to enhance the operator’s situational awareness and precision during remote navigation. Furthermore, the integration with artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms could enable semi-autonomous or fully autonomous operation, further enhancing the efficiency and accuracy of the micro-robotic platform.

As this versatile micro-robotic platform continues to evolve, it holds the potential to revolutionize minimally invasive diagnostics and therapeutics across a wide range of medical conditions and anatomical regions, paving the way for improved patient outcomes and advancing the frontiers of personalized healthcare.

The SpermyBot Concept – A Biomimetic Robotic Solution for Precision Vaginal and Uterine Medicine

Summary: Reimagining Uterine Cancer Detection: The Promise of Micro-Robotics

Uterine cancer remains a threat to women’s health worldwide. But emerging micro-robotic technologies could enable a paradigm shift, allowing for minimally invasive, early diagnosis and better patient outcomes through precisely guided, in-situ interventions.

In the quest to bridge the gap between current medical technology and the futuristic vision of Tethered Non-Cellular Organisms (TNCOs), a groundbreaking concept emerges: the SpermyBot. This biodegradable micro-robot, inspired by the natural design of a sperm, encapsulates the potential to revolutionize the way we approach diagnostics and treatment within the female reproductive system, specifically targeting the vaginal and uterine environments. Combining autonomous navigation, advanced diagnostics, and precise therapeutic delivery mechanisms, the SpermyBot represents a significant leap forward in precision medicine.

A Concept of Intelligent Precision

The core concept involves introducing a compact micro-robot into the uterine cavity. Navigating painlessly to scan the entire interior surface, its onboard sensors and tools would collect cell samples and generate high-resolution imagery to screen for malignant growths or lesions.

While diminutive in size – about a grain of rice – the robot’s potential impact is significant. It promises minimally invasive profiling of uterine health by bringing advanced lab-on-a-chip technologies directly to the source with guided autonomy.

Modular Design Adds Versatility

A modular approach allows interchangeable payloads tailored to specific diagnostic or treatment procedures. Imaging pods geared for early cancer detection could snap onto the chassis. Alternate pods might deliver targeted therapies or treat other gynecological conditions.

Self-Powered for Extended Missions

Onboard batteries allow untethered operation. But self-charging through subtle vibrations from uterine contractions or ultrasonic beams could enable indefinite sensor-guided missions, avoiding complex extractions. The robot remains active until its task is complete.

Navigating the Path Ahead

Regulatory, power and navigation challenges remain. But micro-robotics are rapidly advancing and could make this transformational concept a reality within a decade. The result promises substantial benefits for women’s healthcare worldwide.

Though still an emerging prospect, such intelligent in-situ technologies represent the vanguard of diagnostic and therapeutic innovation to better detect, understand and care for conditions impacting uterine health.

Detailed Description

Designing a rice-grain-sized robot with a flagellum for propulsion, inspired by the motility of sperm, is a fascinating concept that could offer a highly efficient and biologically inspired means of navigating the female reproductive system for purposes such as uterine cancer detection. This approach combines the fields of biomimetics, micro-robotics, and medical diagnostics to create a novel diagnostic tool. Here’s how such a system might be conceptualized and the benefits it could provide:

Design Concept

• Biomimetic Propulsion: The robot would utilize a synthetic flagellum, mimicking the way sperm swim through fluid. This tail-like structure could be engineered to generate propulsion through whip-like movements, allowing the robot to move forward or change direction within the uterus and potentially the fallopian tubes.
• Material and Structure: Crafting the flagellum from flexible, biocompatible materials that can withstand the acidic pH and the environment of the female reproductive tract is crucial. Advanced polymers or composite materials that combine strength, flexibility, and biocompatibility would be ideal.
• Control Mechanism: Movement could be controlled externally via magnetic fields or internally through micro-motors responding to wireless commands. Precise control over the flagellum’s motion would allow for adjustable speed and direction, enabling the robot to navigate to specific locations within the uterus for targeted diagnostics.
• Diagnostic Tools: The main body of the robot, akin to the “head” of a sperm, could house miniaturized diagnostic tools, including microfluidic channels for sample collection, microscopic imaging systems, and sensors for detecting chemical markers of cancer.

Potential Benefits

• Enhanced Mobility and Access: The flagellum-driven propulsion system could allow the robot to navigate more effectively against fluid flows within the reproductive tract, reaching areas that might be difficult to access with other types of propulsion.
• Reduced Risk and Discomfort: This biomimetic approach could minimize discomfort and the risk of tissue damage, as the soft, flexible structure of the flagellum is less likely to cause trauma than more rigid propulsion mechanisms.
• Increased Efficiency: The energy efficiency of flagellar propulsion, mimicking one of nature’s most optimized movements, could allow for longer operational times within the body, maximizing the robot’s diagnostic capabilities.

Development Challenges

• Power Supply: Ensuring a sufficient and safe power supply for the flagellum’s movement, especially if micro-motors are used, is a key challenge. Solutions might include wireless energy transfer or ultra-miniaturized batteries.
• Material Durability: The materials used for the flagellum must be durable enough to sustain repeated motions without degrading, yet flexible enough to mimic the natural movement of a sperm tail.
• Precise Control: Developing a control system that can accurately guide the robot within the complex environment of the reproductive system requires sophisticated engineering and potentially real-time feedback mechanisms.
• Safety and Efficacy Testing: Rigorous testing is needed to ensure that the robot can safely operate within the body without causing immune reactions or other adverse effects, and that it effectively collects and transmits diagnostic information.

Notes

A grain-of-rice-sized robot propelled by a flagellum represents offers potential for highly effective, minimally invasive diagnostics within the female reproductive system. While the concept faces significant technical and biological challenges, the potential benefits in terms of patient comfort, diagnostic accuracy, and access to hard-to-reach areas of the reproductive system make it a compelling area for further research and development.

Design and Functionality

Biocompatibility and Biodegradability: SpermyBot is constructed from cutting-edge materials that ensure full biodegradability and biocompatibility, disintegrating into harmless byproducts after its mission is complete. This addresses concerns about foreign material remnants within the body, ensuring patient safety.

Autonomous Navigation: Mimicking the natural propulsion mechanism of a sperm, the SpermyBot utilizes a bio-inspired flagellum for movement. This design is optimized for the fluidic environment of the female reproductive tract, enabling the robot to navigate autonomously towards target areas within the uterus, guided by chemical gradients, pH changes, or temperature differentials.

Integrated Sensing and Analysis: Equipped with miniaturized sensors, the SpermyBot can detect specific markers indicative of disease, such as proteins or genetic material associated with uterine cancer. Real-time data processing capabilities allow for immediate analysis and decision-making.

Precise Therapeutic Delivery: Perhaps its most revolutionary feature is the SpermyBot’s ability to deliver targeted therapy at the cellular level. Once a diseased cell is identified, and external AI systems confirm the diagnosis, the robot can inject materials designed to trigger apoptosis (cell death) in just the diseased cells, sparing healthy surrounding tissue.

Communication and Control: Low-power wireless technologies enable real-time data transmission to an external receiver, allowing healthcare professionals to monitor the SpermyBot’s diagnostics and therapeutic delivery. This external communication link also provides the command for initiating the self-destruction sequence once the robot’s mission is accomplished.

Programmed Self-Destruction: A critical innovation is the SpermyBot’s programmed self-destruction mechanism, activated upon task completion or via an external command, ensuring the robot harmlessly dissolves.

Implementation Challenges and Solutions

• Material Science Breakthroughs: The development of SpermyBot requires advances in materials that combine structural integrity with functional capability for sensors, propulsion, and communication, all while ensuring biodegradability.
• Navigational Precision: Achieving accurate autonomous navigation within the reproductive tract necessitates a sophisticated integration of bio-inspired design and advanced sensing technologies.
• Effective and Safe Therapeutic Delivery: Ensuring the precise delivery of therapeutic agents to diseased cells without affecting healthy ones is paramount. This will involve innovations in microfluidics and nanotechnology.
• Ethical and Regulatory Considerations: The introduction of such advanced robotic solutions in medicine will require careful ethical consideration and adherence to stringent regulatory standards to ensure patient safety and privacy.

Material selection for the SpermyBot’s various components is crucial for ensuring functionality, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. Here’s a detailed look at potential material options that could be employed in the design of this innovative device, focusing on the propulsion mechanism, sensor integration, therapeutic delivery system, and the communication module.

Propulsion System: Biomimetic Rotary Spermy Propulsion

The propulsion system of the SpermyBot, inspired by the flagellum of a sperm cell, requires materials that offer flexibility, strength, and biodegradability. A potential candidate for this is a composite material made from biodegradable polymers and biomimetic fibers that mimic the structure and function of natural muscle fibers or cilia.

• Polycaprolactone (PCL): A biodegradable polyester with a low melting point, which could be used to create a flexible yet sturdy structure for the flagellum. Its degradation products are non-toxic, making it safe for use in the body.
• Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA): Known for its use in various medical applications, PLGA can degrade into lactic and glycolic acids, naturally occurring substances in the body. It can be engineered to control the rate of degradation, matching the required operational lifespan of the SpermyBot.
• Biomimetic Fibers: Incorporating synthetic fibers that mimic the elastic properties of elastin (a protein found in the extracellular matrix of tissues) could provide the necessary flexibility and resilience for the propulsion mechanism. These could be integrated into the polymer matrix to enhance the biomimetic properties of the flagellum.

Sensor Integration for Diagnostics

Sensors are critical for the SpermyBot’s ability to detect specific markers associated with diseases. Conductive polymers that are biocompatible and can be interfaced with biological tissues are ideal.

• Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT): Offers excellent electrical conductivity and biocompatibility, making it suitable for biosensors that can detect chemical signals or changes in the environment inside the uterus.
• Graphene Oxide: Known for its high surface area and conductivity, graphene oxide can be functionalized with biomolecules for the specific detection of cancer markers. Its use in biodegradable formats is being researched, potentially offering a way to integrate highly sensitive sensors that naturally decompose after completing their mission.

Tethering

Incorporating a very fine tether into the design of a flagellum-propelled micro-robot for uterine cancer detection presents a novel approach to enhancing the safety and retrievability of the device. This tether would ensure that the robot can be safely extracted from the body after completing its diagnostic functions, addressing one of the significant challenges of deploying micro-robots for medical applications. Here’s an overview of how this could be implemented:

Tether Design and Functionality

• Material Selection: The tether should be made from a biocompatible, durable material that is strong enough to pull the robot back without breaking but flexible enough to allow the robot to navigate freely. Materials such as ultra-thin fibers used in microsurgery or advanced polymers developed for biomedical applications could be suitable.
• Tether Deployment: The tether would be stored compactly within the robot and unspool as the robot moves away from the entry point. The end of the tail, where the tether is attached, would serve as the anchor point, allowing the flagellum to continue its propelling motion without hindrance.
• Control and Retrieval: The tether not only serves as a physical means of retrieval but could also incorporate functionalities for control. Conductive materials could allow it to double as a communication link for controlling the robot or transmitting data back to the operator in real-time.

Advantages

• Enhanced Safety: The main advantage of incorporating a tether is the increased safety it provides, ensuring that the robot can be retrieved at any time, reducing the risk of it becoming lost or causing blockages within the body.
• Control and Power: If designed as a conductive link, the tether could supply power to the robot, eliminating the need for onboard batteries and potentially allowing for more extended operation or more sophisticated diagnostic tools.
• Precision Navigation: The tether could also enhance the precision of navigation, with the operator able to apply gentle tugs or adjustments to guide the robot to specific locations within the uterus.

Considerations

• Minimizing Interference: The design must ensure that the tether does not tangibly interfere with the robot’s mobility or the flagellum’s propulsion mechanism. This requires careful consideration of the tether’s thickness, flexibility, and the method of attachment.
• Tether Management: Managing the unspooled tether during the robot’s navigation to prevent entanglement or interference with the robot’s functions will be crucial. This might involve mechanisms for controlled deployment and retraction of the tether.
• Biocompatibility and Comfort: Ensuring that the tether material is biocompatible and does not cause discomfort or adverse reactions during the procedure is essential. The tether’s presence in the body must be as non-intrusive as possible.

Therapeutic Delivery System

For delivering targeted therapy, materials that can encapsulate and then release therapeutic agents in response to specific triggers (pH, temperature, or enzymes) are necessary.

• Hydrogels: Biocompatible hydrogels that respond to environmental stimuli could release therapeutic agents directly at the target site. Chitosan, a naturally occurring biopolymer, can form hydrogels that degrade in the body and release their payload in response to pH changes.
• Microneedles: Biodegradable microneedles made from PLGA or PCL could be employed to deliver drugs directly into cancerous cells. These microneedles can be designed to dissolve after penetration, releasing their therapeutic load inside the cell.

Integrating a fine tether into a micro-robot designed for uterine cancer detection adds a significant layer of safety and functionality, making the use of such advanced diagnostic tools more feasible and appealing. While this approach introduces additional engineering challenges, particularly in tether management and robot design, the potential benefits in terms of safety, control, and diagnostic capabilities make it a promising avenue for development. As with all medical innovations, thorough testing and validation will be required to ensure that the benefits outweigh any potential risks or complications.

Communication Module

Communicating the findings to an external receiver in real-time requires materials that can support wireless communication without compromising the biodegradability of the system.

• Biodegradable Conductive Inks: For the communication module, conductive inks based on silver nanoparticles or conductive polymers like PEDOT can be used on biodegradable substrates to create circuits that are capable of transmitting data wirelessly. These circuits would degrade along with the SpermyBot after use.
• Magnesium Micro-wires: Magnesium is biocompatible and biodegradable, and it can be used to create micro-wires for electronic components that require a higher structural integrity. These wires could degrade safely in the body after fulfilling their purpose.

Balance

The materials chosen for the SpermyBot must strike a balance between functionality and safety, ensuring that the device can navigate the reproductive tract, perform diagnostics, deliver therapy, and communicate its findings without causing harm to the patient. Advances in biodegradable materials and biomimetic design principles are paving the way for such innovative devices, promising a new era of minimally invasive and highly targeted medical treatments.

Biomimetics, Ergonomics and Patient Acceptance

The approach of designing medical technology to be both relatable and less intimidating can play a significant role in its acceptance and adoption. The SpermyBot, with its sperm-inspired design and friendly name, embodies a unique blend of advanced technology and approachable concept. This strategy could help demystify the process of internal diagnostics and treatment, making it seem more natural and less invasive.

The Importance of Approachability in Medical Innovation

• Reducing Anxiety: Medical procedures, especially those that are invasive, can cause significant anxiety for patients. By introducing a device with a familiar and somewhat playful name and form, it may help to alleviate some of the apprehensions associated with uterine and cervical screenings or treatments.
• Enhancing Patient Engagement: A device that is perceived as less threatening encourages better engagement from patients. When patients are more comfortable and understanding of the technology used in their care, they are likely to be more cooperative and proactive in their treatment plans.
• Educational Aspect: The SpermyBot concept provides an excellent opportunity for educational outreach. Explaining its function and design can serve as a tool for healthcare providers to educate patients about reproductive health, the importance of early detection of diseases like uterine cancer, and the advancements in medical technology aimed at improving patient care.
• Social Acceptance: The challenge of introducing new medical technologies also lies in their social acceptance. A device that is perceived as innovative and non-threatening can foster a positive public perception, which is crucial for widespread adoption and support.

Conclusion

The SpermyBot concept represents an exciting frontier in the field of medical robotics, offering a glimpse into a future where minimally invasive, highly precise diagnostic and therapeutic interventions can be conducted within the human body. By integrating the design principles of TNCOs with the autonomy and specificity of advanced robotics, the SpermyBot has the potential to significantly improve outcomes in reproductive health and cancer treatment. This visionary approach not only promises enhanced efficacy and safety but also underscores the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in realizing the next generation of medical technology.

Futurist memories: The leisure society and the black box economy

Things don’t always change as fast as we think. This is a piece I wrote in 1994 looking forward to a fully automated ‘black box economy, a fly-by-wire society. Not much I’d change if I were writing it new today. Here:

The black box economy is a strictly theoretical possibility, but may result where machines gradually take over more and more roles until the whole economy is run by machines, with everything automated. People could be gradually displaced by intelligent systems, robots and automated machinery. If this were to proceed to the ultimate conclusion, we could have a system with the same or even greater output as the original society, but with no people involved. The manufacturing process could thus become a ‘black box’. Such a system would be so machine controlled that humans would not easily be able to pick up the pieces if it crashed – they would simply not understand how it works, or could not control it. It would be a fly-by-wire society.

The human effort could be reduced to simple requests. When you want a new television, a robot might come and collect the old one, recycling the materials and bringing you a new one. Since no people need be involved and the whole automated system could be entirely self-maintaining and self-sufficient there need be no costs. This concept may be equally applicable in other sectors, such as services and information – ultimately producing more leisure time.

Although such a system is theoretically possible – energy is free in principle, and resources are ultimately a function of energy availability – it is unlikely to go quite this far. We may go some way along this road, but there will always be some jobs that we don’t want to automate, so some people may still work. Certainly, far fewer people would need to work in such a system, and other people could spend their time in more enjoyable pursuits, or in voluntary work. This could be the leisure economy we were promised long ago. Just because futurists predicted it long ago and it hasn’t happened yet does not mean it never will. Some people would consider it Utopian, while others possibly a nightmare, it’s just a matter of taste.

Guest Post: Blade Runner 2049 is the product of decades of fear propaganda. It’s time to get enlightened about AI and optimistic about the future

This post from occasional contributor Chris Moseley

News from several months ago that more than 100 experts in robotics and artificial intelligence were calling on the UN to ban the development and use of killer robots is a reminder of the power of humanity’s collective imagination. Stimulated by countless science fiction books and films, robotics and AI is a potent feature of what futurist Alvin Toffler termed ‘future shock’. AI and robots have become the public’s ‘technology bogeymen’, more fearsome curse than technological blessing.

And yet curiously it is not so much the public that is fomenting this concern, but instead the leading minds in the technology industry. Names such as Tesla’s Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking were among the most prominent individuals on a list of 116 tech experts who have signed an open letter asking the UN to ban autonomous weapons in a bid to prevent an arms race.

These concerns appear to emanate from decades of titillation, driven by pulp science fiction writers. Such writers are insistent on foretelling a dark, foreboding future where intelligent machines, loosed from their binds, destroy mankind. A case in point – this autumn, a sequel to Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner has been released. Blade Runner,and 2017’s Blade Runner 2049, are of course a glorious tour de force of story-telling and amazing special effects. The concept for both films came from US author Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? in which androids are claimed to possess no sense of empathy eventually require killing (“retiring”) when they go rogue. Dick’s original novel is an entertaining, but an utterly bleak vision of the future, without much latitude to consider a brighter, more optimistic alternative.

But let’s get real here. Fiction is fiction; science is science. For the men and women who work in the technology industry the notion that myriad Frankenstein monsters can be created from robots and AI technology is assuredly both confused and histrionic. The latest smart technologies might seem to suggest a frightful and fateful next step, a James Cameron Terminator nightmare scenario. It might suggest a dystopian outcome, but rational thought ought to lead us to suppose that this won’t occur because we have historical precedent on our side. We shouldn’t be drawn to this dystopian idée fixe because summoning golems and ghouls ignores today’s global arsenal of weapons and the fact that, more 70 years after Hiroshima, nuclear holocaust has been kept at bay.

By stubbornly pursuing the dystopian nightmare scenario, we are denying ourselves from marvelling at the technologies which are in fact daily helping mankind. Now frame this thought in terms of human evolution. For our ancient forebears a beneficial change in physiology might spread across the human race over the course of a hundred thousand years. Today’s version of evolution – the introduction of a compelling new technology – spreads throughout a mass audience in a week or two.

Curiously, for all this light speed evolution mass annihilation remains absent – we live on, progressing, evolving and improving ourselves.

And in the workplace, another domain where our unyielding dealers of dystopia have exercised their thoughts, technology is of course necessarily raising a host of concerns about the future. Some of these concerns are based around a number of misconceptions surrounding AI. Machines, for example, are not original thinkers and are unable to set their own goals. And although machine learning is able to acquire new information through experience, for the most part they are still fed information to process. Humans are still needed to set goals, provide data to fuel artificial intelligence and apply critical thinking and judgment. The familiar symbiosis of humans and machines will continue to be salient.

Banish the menace of so-called ‘killer robots’ and AI taking your job, and a newer, fresher world begins to emerge. With this more optimistic mind-set in play, what great feats can be accomplished through the continued interaction between artificial intelligence, robotics and mankind?

Blade Runner 2049 is certainly great entertainment – as Robbie Collin, The Daily Telegraph’s film critic writes, “Roger Deakins’s head-spinning cinematography – which, when it’s not gliding over dust-blown deserts and teeming neon chasms, keeps finding ingenious ways to make faces and bodies overlap, blend and diffuse.” – but great though the art is, isn’t it time to change our thinking and recast the world in a more optimistic light?

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Just a word about the film itself. Broadly, director Denis Villeneuve’s done a tremendous job with Blade Runner 2049. One stylistic gripe, though. While one wouldn’t want Villeneuve to direct a slavish homage to Ridley Scott’s original, the alarming switch from the dreamlike techno miasma (most notably, giant nude step-out-the-poster Geisha girls), to Mad Max II Steampunk (the junkyard scenes, complete with a Fagin character) is simply too jarring. I predict that there will be a director’s cut in years to come. Shorter, leaner and sans Steampunk … watch this space!

Author: Chris Moseley, PR Manager, London Business School

cmoseley@london.edu

Tel +44 7511577803

The age of dignity

I just watched a short video of robots doing fetch and carry jobs in an Alibaba distribution centre:

http://uk.businessinsider.com/inside-alibaba-smart-warehouse-robots-70-per-cent-work-technology-logistics-2017-9

There are numerous videos of robots in various companies doing tasks that used to be done by people. In most cases those tasks were dull, menial, drudgery tasks that treated people as machines. Machines should rightly do those tasks. In partnership with robots, AI is also replacing some tasks that used to be done by people. Many are worried about increasing redundancy but I’m not; I see a better world. People should instead be up-skilled by proper uses of AI and robotics and enabled to do work that is more rewarding and treats them with dignity. People should do work that uses their human skills in ways that they find rewarding and fulfilling. People should not have to do work they find boring or demeaning just because they have to earn money. They should be able to smile at work and rest at the end of the day knowing that they have helped others or made the world a better place. If we use AI, robots and people in the right ways, we can build that world.

Take a worker in a call centre. Automation has already replaced humans in most simple transactions like paying a bill, checking a balance or registering a new credit card. It is hard to imagine that anyone ever enjoyed doing that as their job. Now, call centre workers mostly help people in ways that allow them to use their personalities and interpersonal skills, being helpful and pleasant instead of just typing data into a keyboard. It is more enjoyable and fulfilling for the caller, and presumably for the worker too, knowing they genuinely helped someone’s day go a little better. I just renewed my car insurance. I phoned up to cancel the existing policy because it had increased in price too much. The guy at the other end of the call was very pleasant and helpful and met me half way on the price difference, so I ended up staying for another year. His company is a little richer, I was a happier customer, and he had a pleasant interaction instead of having to put up with an irate customer and also the job satisfaction from having converted a customer intending to leave into one happy to stay. The AI at his end presumably gave him the information he needed and the limits of discount he was permitted to offer. Success. In billions of routine transactions like that, the world becomes a little happier and just as important, a little more dignified. There is more dignity in helping someone than in pushing a button.

Almost always, when AI enters a situation, it replaces individual tasks that used to take precious time and that were not very interesting to do. Every time you google something, a few microseconds of AI saves you half a day in a library and all those half days add up to a lot of extra time every year for meeting colleagues, human interactions, learning new skills and knowledge or even relaxing. You become more human and less of a machine. Your self-actualisation almost certainly increases in one way or another and you become a slightly better person.

There will soon be many factories and distribution centres that have few or no people at all, and that’s fine. It reduces the costs of making material goods so average standard of living can increase. A black box economy that has automated mines or recycling plants extracting raw materials and uses automated power plants to convert them into high quality but cheap goods adds to the total work available to add value; in other words it increases the size of the economy. Robots can make other robots and together with AI, they could make all we need, do all the fetching and carrying, tidying up, keeping it all working, acting as willing servants in every role we want them in. With greater economic wealth and properly organised taxation, which will require substantial change from today, people could be freed to do whatever fulfills them. Automation increases average standard of living while liberating people to do human interaction jobs, crafts, sports, entertainment, leading, inspiring, teaching, persuading, caring and so on, creating a care economy. 

Each person knows what they are good at, what they enjoy. With AI and robot assistance, they can more easily make that their everyday activity. AI could do their company set-up, admin, billing, payments, tax, payroll – all the crap that makes being an entrepreneur a pain in the ass and stops many people pursuing their dreams.  Meanwhile they would do that above a very generous welfare net. Many of us now are talking about the concept of universal basic income, or citizen wage. With ongoing economic growth at the average rate of the last few decades, the global economy will be between twice and three times as big as today in the 2050s. Western countries could pay every single citizen a basic wage equivalent to today’s average wage, and if they work or run a company, they can earn more.

We will have an age where material goods are high quality, work well and are cheap to buy, and recycled in due course to minimise environmental harm. Better materials, improved designs and techniques, higher efficiency and land productivity and better recycling will mean that people can live with higher standards of living in a healthier environment. With a generous universal basic income, they will not have to worry about paying their bills. And doing only work that they want to do that meets their self-actualisation needs, everyone can live a life of happiness and dignity.

Enough of the AI-redundancy alarmism. If we elect good leaders who understand the options ahead, we can build a better world, for everyone. We can make real the age of dignity.

The future of planetary exploration robots

An article in Popular Science about explorer robots:

http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/weird-tumbleweed-robot-might-change-planetary-exploration?src=SOC&dom=tw

This is a nice idea for an explorer. I’m a bit surprised it is in Popular Science, unless it’s an old edition, since the idea first appeared ages ago, but then again, why not, it’s still a good idea. Anyway…

The most impressive idea I ever saw for an explorer robot was back in the 90s from Joe Michael of Robodyne Cybernetics, which used fractal cubes that could slide along each face, thereby rearranging into any shape. Once the big cubes were in place, smaller ones would rearrange to give fine structure. That was way before everyone and his dog new all about nanotech, his thinking was well ahead of his time. A huge array of fractal cubes could become any shape – a long snake to cross high or narrow obstacles, a thin plate to capture wind like a sail, a ball to roll around, or a dense structure to minimize volume or wind resistance.

NASA tends to opt for ridiculously expensive and complex landers with wheels and lots of gadgetry that can drive to where they want to be.

I do wonder though whether people are avoiding the simple ideas just because they’re simple. In nature, some tiny spiders get around just by spinning a length of thread and letting the wind carry them. Bubbles can float on the wind too, as can balloons. Where there’s an atmosphere, there is likely to be wind, and if simple exploration is the task, why not just let the winds carry you around? If not a thread, use a balloon that can be inflated and deflated, or a sail. Why not use a large cloud of tiny explorers using wind by diverse techniques instead of a large single robotic vehicle? Even if there is no atmosphere, surely a large cloud of tiny and diverse explorers is more capable and robust than a single one? The clue to solving the IT bits are that a physical cloud can also be an IT cloud. Why not let them use different shapes for different circumstances, so that they can float up, be blown around, and when they want to go somewhere interesting, then glide to where they want to be? Dropping from a high altitude is an easy way of gathering the kinetic energy for ground penetration too, you don’t have to carry sophisticated drills. Local atmosphere can be used as the gas source and ballast (via freezing atmospheric gases or taking some dust with you) for balloons and wind or solar can be the power supply. Obviously, people in all space agencies must have thought of these ideas themselves. I just don’t understand why they have thrown them away in favor of far more heavier and more expensive variants.

I’m not an expert on space. Maybe there are excellent reasons that each and every one of these can’t work. But I also have enough experience of engineering to know that one of the most likely reasons is that they just aren’t exciting enough and the complex, expensive, unreliable and less capable solutions simply look far more cool and trendy. Maybe it is simply that ego is more important than mission success.

Free-floating AI battle drone orbs (or making Glyph from Mass Effect)

I have spent many hours playing various editions of Mass Effect, from EA Games. It is one of my favourites and has clearly benefited from some highly creative minds. They had to invent a wide range of fictional technology along with technical explanations in the detail for how they are meant to work. Some is just artistic redesign of very common sci-fi ideas, but they have added a huge amount of their own too. Sci-fi and real engineering have always had a strong mutual cross-fertilisation. I have lectured sometimes on science fact v sci-fi, to show that what we eventually achieve is sometimes far better than the sci-fi version (Exhibit A – the rubbish voice synthesisers and storage devices use on Star Trek, TOS).

Liara talking to her assistant Glyph.Picture Credit: social.bioware.com

In Mass Effect, lots of floating holographic style orbs float around all over the place for various military or assistant purposes. They aren’t confined to a fixed holographic projection system. Disruptor and battle drones are common, and  a few home/lab/office assistants such as Glyph, who is Liara’s friendly PA, not a battle drone. These aren’t just dumb holograms, they can carry small devices and do stuff. The idea of a floating sphere may have been inspired by Halo’s, but the Mass Effect ones look more holographic and generally nicer. (Think Apple v Microsoft). Battle drones are highly topical now, but current technology uses wings and helicopters. The drones in sci-fi like Mass Effect and Halo are just free-floating ethereal orbs. That’s what I am talking about now. They aren’t in the distant future. They will be here quite soon.

I recently wrote on how to make force field and floating cars or hover-boards.

How to actually make a Star Wars Landspeeder or a Back to the future hoverboard.

Briefly, they work by creating a thick cushion of magnetically confined plasma under the vehicle that can be used to keep it well off the ground, a bit like a hovercraft without a skirt or fans. Using layers of confined plasma could also be used to make relatively weak force fields. A key claim of the idea is that you can coat a firm surface with a packed array of steerable electron pipes to make the plasma, and a potentially reconfigurable and self organising circuit to produce the confinement field. No moving parts, and the coating would simply produce a lifting or propulsion force according to its area.

This is all very easy to imagine for objects with a relatively flat base like cars and hover-boards, but I later realised that the force field bit could be used to suspend additional components, and if they also have a power source, they can add locally to that field. The ability to sense their exact relative positions and instantaneously adjust the local fields to maintain or achieve their desired position so dynamic self-organisation would allow just about any shape  and dynamics to be achieved and maintained. So basically, if you break the levitation bit up, each piece could still work fine. I love self organisation, and biomimetics generally. I wrote my first paper on hormonal self-organisation over 20 years ago to show how networks or telephone exchanges could self organise, and have used it in many designs since. With a few pieces generating external air flow, the objects could wander around. Cunning design using multiple components could therefore be used to make orbs that float and wander around too, even with the inspired moving plates that Mass Effect uses for its drones. It could also be very lightweight and translucent, just like Glyph. Regular readers will not be surprised if I recommend some of these components should be made of graphene, because it can be used to make wonderful things. It is light, strong, an excellent electrical and thermal conductor, a perfect platform for electronics, can be used to make super-capacitors and so on. Glyph could use a combination of moving physical plates, and use some to add some holographic projection – to make it look pretty. So, part physical and part hologram then.

Plates used in the structure can dynamically attract or repel each other and use tethers, or use confined plasma cushions. They can create air jets in any direction. They would have a small load-bearing capability. Since graphene foam is potentially lighter than helium

Could graphene foam be a future Helium substitute?

it could be added into structures to reduce forces needed. So, we’re not looking at orbs that can carry heavy equipment here, but carrying processing, sensing, storage and comms would be easy. Obviously they could therefore include whatever state of the art artificial intelligence has got to, either on-board, distributed, or via the cloud. Beyond that, it is hard to imagine a small orb carrying more than a few hundred grammes. Nevertheless, it could carry enough equipment to make it very useful indeed for very many purposes. These drones could work pretty much anywhere. Space would be tricky but not that tricky, the drones would just have to carry a little fuel.

But let’s get right to the point. The primary market for this isn’t the home or lab or office, it is the battlefield. Battle drones are being regulated as I type, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be developed. My generation grew up with the nuclear arms race. Millennials will grow up with the drone arms race. And that if anything is a lot scarier. The battle drones on Mass Effect are fairly easy to kill. Real ones won’t.

Mass Effect combat drone, picture credit: masseffect.wikia.com

If these cute little floating drone things are taken out of the office and converted to military uses they could do pretty much all the stuff they do in sci-fi. They could have lots of local energy storage using super-caps, so they could easily carry self-organising lightweight  lasers or electrical shock weaponry too, or carry steerable mirrors to direct beams from remote lasers, and high definition 3D cameras and other sensing for reconnaissance. The interesting thing here is that self organisation of potentially redundant components would allow a free roaming battle drone that would be highly resistant to attack. You could shoot it for ages with laser or bullets and it would keep coming. Disruption of its fields by electrical weapons would make it collapse temporarily, but it would just get up and reassemble as soon as you stop firing. With its intelligence potentially local cloud based, you could make a small battalion of these that could only be properly killed by totally frazzling them all. They would be potentially lethal individually but almost irresistible as a team. Super-capacitors could be recharged frequently using companion drones to relay power from the rear line. A mist of spare components could make ready replacements for any that are destroyed. Self-orientation and use of free-space optics for comms make wiring and circuit boards redundant, and sub-millimetre chips 100m away would be quite hard to hit.

Well I’m scared. If you’re not, I didn’t explain it properly.