Design of nanorobots for exposing cancer cells

Nanotechnology. 2019 Aug 2;30(31):315501. doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ab1770. Epub 2019 Apr 9.

Abstract

We discuss in detail, the design of a nanorobot that can navigate, detect cancer cells in the blood and actuate the exposure of drugs. The nanorobot is designed with blood energy harvesting capability and the accumulation of electricity in a capacitor, which forms the main body of the nanorobot. Glucose hunger-based cancer detectors immobilized on a carbon nanotube sensor, reduces its electrical resistance when attached to a cancer cell. This mechanism in turn allows electric current to activate a nano-electrical-mechanical relay (mechanical transistor) to break the chamber ceiling exposing a drug identified by the immune system for cell elimination. This concept is in line with the effort to design an autonomous computational nanorobot for in vivo medical diagnosis and treatment. We present this facile approach to design a collective system to visualize the programmability in nanorobots. The calculations and simulation results provide a proof-of-concept towards a plausible implementation. Through this work, we present an overall picture towards an inorganic autonomous computational nanorobot for cancer diagnosis and treatment.

MeSH terms

  • Antigens, Neoplasm / analysis
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology
  • Biosensing Techniques / instrumentation*
  • Cell Death / drug effects
  • Electric Capacitance
  • Equipment Design
  • Humans
  • Nanomedicine / instrumentation*
  • Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Neoplasms / drug therapy

Substances

  • Antigens, Neoplasm
  • Antineoplastic Agents