-The birth of micro-robots at the end of the 20th century Scientists predict that the greatest scientific field in the 20th century is the micro-world, and micro-machinery smaller than the tip of a needle has created a brand-new scientific field. Micro-robots have become the pride of mankind.
How big is the micro robot? In 1980s, Professor Lin Hui of Tokyo University defined it as: small machinery 1mm to 10mm, micro machinery 10mm to 1mm, ultra micro machinery 10nm to 10mm, which were collectively called micro machinery. The size of micro-robot can reach micron or even sub-micron, the weight is as light as nanogram, and the machining accuracy reaches micron and nanometer.
A Japanese company installed a motor-driven mini-car with micro parts, only the size of rice grain, and the diameter of electrostatic motor was only 1-2 microns. The company also made a micro lathe that can be started, which is only one tenth of the size of an ordinary lathe; The artificial intelligence inchworm manufactured by the company is only 5.5 mm in diameter. It is said that in the near future, this kind of artificial intelligence inchworm is likely to crawl in the winding pipeline of nuclear power plant, looking for cracks in the pipeline.
Wolfgang Erfield, a physicist at the German Institute of Micro Technology, has developed a twin-engine helicopter, which weighs less than 0.5g and can rise to the air 130mm. Its high-performance micro-motor has a power of 65,438+0 watts and a rotating speed of 65,438+million revolutions per minute, but its size is only the size of a sharpened pencil tip. This wasp-sized helicopter is far from practical use, but it convincingly shows that tiny micro motors will eventually be used to drive electronic displays, watches, microcomputers, laser scanners and microsurgical instruments.
To be a micro robot, the original industrial technology is completely inapplicable. Micro-machinery must have very small parts, which require materials, processing methods and assembly, and all new technologies must be developed. Texas Instruments uses etching process to manufacture silicon wafer to manufacture ——MEMS, a micro-electromechanical system with extremely small size. MEMS technology is a micromachining technology of integrated circuits, which integrates drivers, transmission devices, sensors, controllers and power supplies on several cubic millimeters of polysilicon, thus obtaining electromechanical micromechanics. Some prototypes of MEMS have been widely used in the United States, Japan and Germany. For example, automatic detection sensors, the diameter of which is only the thickness of hair, have been installed in millions of cars. When it feels the impact, it will automatically open the airbag to protect the driver and passenger.
Scientists have found that the reliability and robustness of micromechanics are amazing. Bell laboratory shook a micro-machine for 2 billion times, and it was not damaged at all, because it was so light that it wouldn't be damaged like throwing a piece of paper on the ground.
The magical prospect of micromechanics has aroused great concern and interest of scientists, so a new discipline-micromechanics came into being.
199 1 10 in June, Japan invested 654.38+700 billion dollars to develop a miniature submarine sealed cabin with a pocket robot inside. The capsule is only 8.5 mm in diameter, like a small submarine. If swallowed in the stomach, you can observe and analyze the situation of the stomach, and the medical staff can operate the computer program in the capsule through remote instructions, and can also treat the lesions. After finishing the treatment task, it will be discharged with feces, which is harmless to human body.
Another kind of microcatheter made in Japan, with a diameter of only 5 mm, has a camera and a laser at the tail, and a robot is installed in the tube. This tube can be inserted into blood vessels from the skin, or into the gallbladder or pancreas. After the robot enters the human body, it can clearly display the situation in the human body on the TV screen through its camera for the doctor to make a correct diagnosis. Robots in the body can also be directly used for treatment.
Professor Fei Jianchun from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Tokyo in Japan and others have developed robots that can enter the human brain for surgery. In fact, this is a small needle with a small laser knife and a device that can absorb tissue. During the operation, the position of the operation and the angle and depth of the needle are determined by watching the synthetic stereoscopic head image of X-ray and CT imaging. When the needle enters the proper position, the operation will begin under the control of the computer. The equipment 1994 has been applied in clinic.
In order to ensure the safety of surgery, Charles, an American ophthalmologist, cooperated with a laboratory to develop a mechanical system to prevent hand trembling during surgery at 1996, and designed a robot to replace human hand movements. When the doctor moves the joystick 1 cm, the mechanical scalpel only moves 1 mm, so the operation is precise and accurate, and accidents can be avoided. Charles predicted that the scalpel was expected to be put on the market within two years.
A device developed by Paula of the University of Minnesota in the United States can walk in blood vessels, can be infused into human blood, can continuously monitor the glucose concentration in the blood of diabetic patients, and deliver insulin to patients.
At Canese Kimoon University in Pittsburgh, someone invented a miniature impeller, which can be used for patients with atherosclerosis. Its impeller blades are thinner than hair. When it is placed in human blood, the impeller rotates as soon as the blood flows.
All kinds of pocket robots that can enter the human body are incredibly small; Their role in medicine was unimaginable half a century ago.