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New Robot Glides Through Intestines

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the i-am-proud-to-live-in-a-time-where-this-is-possible dept.

TechFreep writes to mention a NewScientist article about a new mucus-riding robot, intended for use in medical examinations of the intestinal tract. The snail-like bot, it is hoped, will be easier on the internal organs of patients than similar robots which use small leg-like structures. From the article: "Dodou is testing a polymer material that clings to proteins found in the mucus that lines the gut. She measured the polymer's sticky properties in the lab using sections of pig gut, and also examined the way the polymer's stickiness can be 'switched off' by spraying it with water. This could allow a robot to move in a manner similar to a snail, which alternately makes itself sticky and slippery by exerting pressure with its body."

21 of 96 comments (clear)

  1. Too easy by sokoban · · Score: 4, Funny

    Someone doing intestinal research named Dodou. Come on at least make it a little bit more difficult for the peanut gallery than that

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    1. Re:Too easy by Courageous · · Score: 2, Funny

      Funny? You call dat funny.

      My wife, a physician, has a coworker. While I do not know how to spell his last name, I am quite sure it's pronounced "Kills". "Hello, Dr. Kills, here's the schedule for your surgery." A surgeon named kills. Easy fodder for the Peanut gallery, but what can I say?

      C//

    2. Re:Too easy by Memnos · · Score: 3, Funny

      I periodically experiment with my own mucus-riding robot. It's a tiny thing, composed of an exostruture and programming code within. I've named it "rhinitus".

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      I don't trust atoms -- they make up stuff.
    3. Re:Too easy by Fear+the+Clam · · Score: 3, Funny

      If the robot's going to through the intestines undigested, "peanut" would be a good name too.

  2. It looks like by hyperbotfly · · Score: 2, Funny

    They found a new application for olestra.

  3. For the first time... by Psionicist · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... an embedded device that deserves to run Microsoft Windows!

    1. Re:For the first time... by apharmdq · · Score: 2, Funny

      Dude, that's not such a hot idea. All it needs to do is fail its WGA check just once, and then you get to experience the adventure of installing a valid copy of Windows on a snail somewhere in the vicinity of your colon.

    2. Re:For the first time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      right... and since it already exploits a "back door" we can call it "W32/anal.worm"

    3. Re:For the first time... by fbjon · · Score: 2, Funny

      So... how to root the machine?

      --
      True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
  4. Next stop: Parasites Lost by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 4, Funny
    Pretty soon, we'll just make miniature robotic versions of doctors and control the micro-droids using virtual reality gear! I can see the senario now...

    To eliminate the worm infestation, the crew makes their way into Fry's bowel, and fights their way to the pelvic splanchnic ganglion, intending to cause a massive bowel movement:

    • Farnsworth: If we can stimulate that nerve, the bowel will convulse, expelling the entire worm society.
    • Hermes: But what about the worms in the other parts of his body?
    • Farnsworth: Listen, this is gonna be one hell of a bowel movement. Afterwards he'll be lucky if he has any bones left.
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    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  5. tagged "headlinesineverwantedtoread" by bunions · · Score: 2, Funny

    right up there with "Giants trade Bonds, Snow for Carrot-Top" and "Heat-seeking flying lizards swarm city"

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    there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
  6. Someone write in and.... by kbox · · Score: 2, Informative

    Tell Dodou, Things "glide through the intestines" pretty well on thier own already.

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    God Be Gone
    1. Re:Someone write in and.... by Kizor · · Score: 4, Funny

      That only serves to prove that you've never been subjected to a colonoscopy gone wrong.
       
      Which, from the patient's point of view, always happens.

  7. It sounds a bit uncomfortable, but.... by CFD339 · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...as the old man always says...

    This too shall pass, in the end.

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    The problem with quotes on the internet, is that nobody bothers to check their veracity. -- Abraham Lincoln
  8. Re:Um.. by Quadraginta · · Score: 4, Informative

    Just you wait, sonny. When you turn 55 or so, your other choice is to have the doc stick a fat periscope up there to take a look, screen you for bowel cancer. Bring on the robots, I say.

  9. Update your AV by DittoBox · · Score: 3, Funny

    A new virus has been discoverd: W32.e-tapeworm.

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    Good. Cheap. Fast. Pick Two.
  10. Do you guys mind? by QuantumG · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'm trying to eat lunch here.

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    How we know is more important than what we know.
  11. Say it with me everyone: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Wiiiii!

    Sounds like an interesting concept for a game. Think of what kind of franchises this could... erm, spawn.

    PooRaider
    Ridged Racer
    Intestine Coaster Tycoon
    Metal Gear Solids
    "Quake"

    1. Re:Say it with me everyone: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      intestinator

  12. Improvement by Tablizer · · Score: 4, Funny

    Anybody who has ever had a doctor shove one of those 20-foot metal hose snakes up their ass to look around will welcome such robots. I for one welcome our ass-dwelling robotic overlords. Better than the snakes they replace.

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    Table-ized A.I.
  13. Re:Not as violational as... by Orange+Crush · · Score: 2, Funny
    For my masters project, I worked on a snake-like robotic arm.

    What did your master use the robot arm for?