Researcher proposes nanorobotic platelets and phagocytes

KurzweilAI.net, April 15, 2002

Zyvex research scientist Robert A. Freitas has proposed bloodstream nanorobotic devices that would allow for dramatic improvements in clotting speed and eradication of bacteria and other pathogens in the blood.

Nanorobotic artificial mechanical platelets ("clottocytes") could allow for complete hemostasis in as little as one second -- 100 to 1000 times faster than the natural system and 10,000 times more effective in terms of bloodstream concentration.

They could also work internally. Using acoustic pulses, a blood vessel break could be rapidly communicated to neighboring clottocytes, immediately triggering a progressive controlled mesh-release cascade.

Nanorobotic "microbivores" traveling in the bloodstream could be 1000 times faster-acting than white blood cells and eradicate 1000 times more bacteria, offering a complete antimicrobial therapy without increasing the risk of sepsis or septic shock (as in traditional antibiotic regimens) and without release of biologically active effluents. They could also quickly rid the blood of nonbacterial pathogens such as viruses, fungus cells, or parasites.


Clottocytes: Artificial Mechanical Platelets


Microbivores: Artificial Mechanical Phagocytes