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Robot Invented To Crawl Through Veins
Slatterz writes "Scientists from Israel's Technion University have unveiled a tiny robot, made using Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology, purportedly able to crawl through a person's veins in order to diagnose and potentially treat artery blockage and cancer. The little robot — with a diameter of just one millimeter — has neither engine nor onboard controls, instead being propelled forward by a magnetic field wielded on it from outside the patient's body."
Not offtopic. The blurb article mentions only that it would be magnetically controlled. Maybe that's their entire plan for keeping it from clogging the tubes (blood, not the internet). It very much seems like it could cause aneurysms, clots, strokes, heart attacks, and whatever it was Tony Stark had in the recent Iron Man movie.
I am not a doctor, nor do I play one in comic books.
Since arteries feed into veins I suppose an arterial blockage could cause problems in veins. But I think it's just a bad summary and when the author wrote "veins" they probably meant vessels in general.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/875277.html http://t3.technion.ac.il/more_details.php?id=76
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"Small piece of spiky metal" more accurately describes it. From the (admittedly vague) article, there's no mention of any powered equipment actually on the 'robot'. It seems to work like a grass seed - backwards pointing hairs plus contact with something firm yet pliable plus vibration equals forward movement.