The experiment to regenerate the animal's damaged knee cartilage with a stem-cell carrying micro robot succeeded for the first time in the world. Korean researchers set their goal to use it to people in two or three years from now.

▲ Experimenting micro-robot with damaged rabbit`s cartilage (YTN)

Korean scientists have solved the problem with magnetic porous robot. They put the stem cell in the robot to be decomposed in the subject's body and control the robot to the damaged part with magnetism. In the experiment with a rabbit's knee cartilage, almost all the stem cells from the micro-robots arrived at the injured cartilage, but normal stem cells which were injected to the cartilage directly almost dispersed and hardly arrived in the injured one.

▲ Porous micro-robot made by DGIST (INews)

▲ Stem cell that could differentiate into other cells (NaverDictionary)

The stem cells are undifferentiated cells that could become differentiated cells after they are divided again. The reason why stem cells are important is that they can maintain and regenerate tissue homeostasis. So, it is used to regenerate tissues and making artificial organs. For the difficulties in putting stem cells in the damaged part to regenerate the part, people used damaged knee cartilage into artificial articulation. But after changing the damaged cartilage into an artificial one, people have been suffered from its side effects and pain. Moreover, after the success in the animal. After the success in the animal experiment, however, the new way of regenerating cartilage is being created.

According to YTN, a researcher of medical micro-robot said that it is meaningful to check the micro-robots' good operation and the effect of curing in the subject's body, which is limited at the level in the laboratory only. Also, a professor of Jeonnam National University said that it is a medical technology that makes medicine, medical supplies, and medical device fuse, and it proves its process and effect in the subject's body by conducting animal experimentation. Also, he said that after the verification of its stability, it will be used to patients.

March.8th.2020

by 배두진