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Swarms of tiny "microgrippers" used to perform biopsies
When procuring tissue samples for medical diagnosis, doctors have been confined to bulky and invasive forceps. But with recent successful experiments in pigs, we may see doctors switching from the single forceps to hordes of a thousand "microgrippers." These metal discs, each only 300 micrometers in size, are designed to snip bits of tissue when introduced en masse into the body and then be easily retrieved by a doctor. Their small size, added to the fact that they need no batteries, tethers or wires, belies their complexity and autonomy in function, which could allow the microgrippers to provide diagnoses earlier, more easily, and with less trauma.
Resembling sprinklings of dust to the naked eye, or star-shaped confetti under a microscope, microgrippers are produced in similar fashion to computer chips. They're made of nickel, making them magnetically retrievable, and their ability to grip comes from a heat-sensitive polymer layer on the tips and joints of their arms. At 32° F (0° C) the star shape is flat and rigid. However, at 98.6°F (37° C), or body temperature, the polymer softens, forcing the star to close tightly in on itself and grip whatever it was in contact with.
The question of whether microgrippers become useful boils down to a numbers game. Tissue samples, even when combined with other medical observations, are the most important factor for establishing an accurate diagnosis, yet by definition are taken randomly. The use of forceps is limited to a certain number of random biopsies in a given organ because of the tool's size and the amount of trauma caused with each excision. Using microgrippers allows one to increase the sampling by a magnitude of ten or even a hundred.
Dr. Gracias at Johns Hopkins designed the microgrippers, and his team has conducted two tests, one of them using a pig's colon as a model because of its similarity to a human's. Before being introduced to a colon via an endoscope, the grippers are kept rigid in cold water. After five minutes in the body, the polymer hinges are warm enough to clasp closed over a piece of tissue. It is then straightforward to retrieve thousands of grippers using a magnetic catheter.
However, if you've ever spilled a tin of tacks or pins on a soft carpet and attempted to collect them all, even with a magnet you know that retrieval will still be difficult. Some microgrippers are certain to be left behind. Though colon tissue quickly regenerates itself, shedding grippers that may have been left behind, the next direction of research is establishing safety.
With future advances in sophisticated "microtechnologies" (the microgrippers are just a little too big to describe as nanotechnology), doctors may one day use thousands of tiny tools where one would serve today.
Sources: Gastroenterology, Johns Hopkins University
Source: http://www.gizmag.com/tiny-microgrippers-perform-biopsies/27277/
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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