Kidney Stone Dissolution By Tetherless, Enzyme-Loaded, Soft Magnetic Miniature Robots

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Nanotechnology
• Urology

Background:

• Kidney stones affect 12% of the population, with high recurrence rates.
• Current treatments involve prolonged drug administration or repetitive surgeries, causing patient burden.
• A need exists for targeted, less invasive treatments with reduced side effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a wireless drug delivery strategy for kidney stone dissolution.
• To create magnetically steered, enzymatically active robots for targeted treatment.
• To assess the efficacy of urease-embedded robots in dissolving kidney stones in a urinary tract model.

Main Methods:

• Millimeter-sized, gelatin-based robots with embedded micromagnets and urease were fabricated.
• Robots were navigated wirelessly using magnetic steering through a 3D printed human urinary tract model.
• Urease activity was utilized to locally increase urinary pH and dissolve stones.
• Clinical ultrasound was used for real-time robot localization.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated successful navigation of robots within the urinary tract model.
• Achieved enhanced dissolution of kidney stones via localized urease action.
• Confirmed real-time robot tracking using clinical ultrasound.

Conclusions:

• Proposed a novel, less invasive strategy for treating kidney stones.
• Magnetically steered, urease-active robots offer targeted drug delivery at the disease site.
• This technology holds potential to circumvent surgery for uric acid kidney stones.