Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers recently developed a tiny robot that can unfold itself from a biodegradable capsule once ingested, and then crawl across the stomach to remove swallowed items like battery buttons. The days of waiting for a swallowed item to pass through the body may soon be gone, thanks to a tiny pill-size origami robot. Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers recently developed a tiny robot that can unfold itself from a biodegradable capsule once ingested, and then crawl across the stomach to remove swallowed items like button batteries. Each year 3,500 button cell batteries are swallowed, according to the National Capital Poison Center. While they typically pass through the body without incident, if they come into prolonged contact with the stomach or esophagus they can cause internal burning, according to an MIT statement.

This origami robot is designed to be swallowed in an ice capsule (left) before unfolding inside the stomach. Scientists have created a tiny, ingestible robot made from pig intestine that might be able to retrieve swallowed objects without surgery. The robot is built from a magnet attached to folds of dried meat typically used in sausage casings. It needs no tether or power source, instead being guided by magnets outside the body. Though swallowed in an ice capsule, the robot unfolds inside the stomach as its casing melts.

In experiments involving a simulation of the human esophagus and stomach, researchers at MIT, the University of Sheffield, and the Tokyo Institute of Technology have demonstrated a tiny origami robot that can unfold itself from a swallowed capsule and, steered by external magnetic fields, crawl across the stomach wall to remove a swallowed button battery or patch a wound. The new work, which the researchers are presenting this week at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation, builds on a long sequence of papers on origami robots from the research group of Daniela Rus, the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Professor in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. "It's really exciting to see our small origami robots doing something with potential important applications to health care," says Rus, who also directs MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). "For applications inside the body, we need a small, controllable, untethered robot system. It's really difficult to control and place a robot inside the body if the robot is attached to a tether."

From Lego bricks to batteries, young children, and even the occasional adult, can swallow a bizarre array of objects. But a new foldable robot could now help doctors remove these without the need for surgery. The origami robot can be swallowed, steered through the stomach using a magnetic field and then attach itself to the foreign objects to help them pass through the digestion system. Engineers have created a foldable robot (pictured) out of dried pig intestine and a material that shrinks when heated. When folded it can be encased in a capsule of ice so it can be swallowed.

The new work, which the researchers are presenting this week at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation, builds on a long sequence of papers on origami robots from the research group of Daniela Rus, the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Professor in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. "It's really exciting to see our small origami robots doing something with potential important applications to health care," says Rus, who also directs MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). "For applications inside the body, we need a small, controllable, untethered robot system. It's really difficult to control and place a robot inside the body if the robot is attached to a tether." Joining Rus on the paper are first author Shuhei Miyashita, who was a postdoc at CSAIL when the work was done and is now a lecturer in electronics at the University of York, in England; Steven Guitron, a graduate student in mechanical engineering; Shuguang Li, a CSAIL postdoc; Kazuhiro Yoshida of Tokyo Institute of Technology, who was visiting MIT on sabbatical when the work was done; and Dana Damian of the University of Sheffield, in England.

A pill that unfolds into a little robot could one day give parents everywhere a little more peace of mind. Once swallowed, it can open up inside a person's stomach, crawling across the stomach wall to retrieve a single-cell button battery, and even patch wounds. This is no small thing. In the US every year, over 3,500 incidents of swallowed button batteries are reported in the US, and most cases of battery swallowing involve toddlers. Although most of these batteries are safely digested, sometimes they can leak and cause tissue burns, bleeding, and death.