A team of researchers at the TechMed Centre of the University of Twente has transformed real sperm cells into tiny, magnetically controlled microrobots. These sperm bots can now be tracked in real time using X-ray imaging, a breakthrough in medical microrobotics. This development could open new doors in reproductive medicine, drug delivery, and infertility diagnostics.
Sperm cells are naturally fast, flexible swimmers that can navigate the complex environment of the female reproductive tract. Making them promising candidates for use in medical microrobotics. Sperm cells are nearly impossible to see inside the human body using traditional imaging methods like X-ray. They’re small, low-density, and nearly transparent to radiation. “Until now, visualising sperm inside the body was nearly impossible,” says UT researcher Islam Khalil, lead author of the study.
Coating sperm cells
Together with researchers and medical professionals from the Radboud University Medical Center and the University of Waterloo (Canada), researchers at the University of Twente coated real sperm cells with magnetic nanoparticles. This made them visible under X-ray and responsive to external magnetic fields. For the first time, these sperm-based microrobots can now be tracked and steered inside a life-sized anatomical model.
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