---
title: "Creepy Robotic Worm Could Wriggle Through Your Brain Arteries"
description: "A team of researchers from at MIT have invented a tiny robotic worm that could be steered through the tiny arteries in the human brain using a magnet."
date: "2019-08-29"
modified: "2019-08-29"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/robot-worm-brain-arteries"
categories:
  - "Health & Medicine"
  - "Prosthetics and Devices"
tags:
  - "brain"
  - "brain surgery"
  - "robotic worm"
---

# Creepy Robotic Worm Could Wriggle Through Your Brain Arteries

![A team of researchers from at MIT have invented a tiny robotic worm that could be steered through the tiny arteries in the human brain using a magnet.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/robot-worm-brain-arteries.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: MIT\</em\>*

A team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have invented a [tiny robotic worm](<http://news.mit.edu/2019/robot-brain-blood-vessels-0828>) that could be steered through the tiny arteries in the human brain using a magnet.

The invention could open new doors for minimally invasive brain surgery by accessing places in the brain that have thus far remained unreachable. It could treat lesions and help unblock blockages in the brain that could otherwise result in aneurysms and strokes.

“If we could design a device to reverse blood vessel blockage within \[a critical 90-minute window\] we could potentially avoid permanent brain damage,” said Xuanhe Zhao, associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT and co-author of the study, in [a statement](<http://news.mit.edu/2019/robot-brain-blood-vessels-0828>). "That’s our hope."

The worm is made out of a special polymer that's "uniformly dispersed" with small "ferromagnetic microparticles" and is less than 0.6 millimeters thick, roughly ten times the width of a human hair, according to a [new paper](<https://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/4/33/eaax7329>) about the project in the journal *Science Robotics*.

So far, the researchers tested their "ferromagnetic soft continuum robot" in silicone models of the brain.

To make sure the worm can wiggle around the arteries freely, the researchers gave the worm a self-lubricating skin that reduces friction — since drag could cause damage to the sensitive arteries.

Next, the researchers are planning to test the brain worm in animals. And [according to the ](<https://www.newscientist.com/article/2214657-worm-robot-could-wiggle-its-way-through-arteries-in-the-brain/>)*[New Scientist](<https://www.newscientist.com/article/2214657-worm-robot-could-wiggle-its-way-through-arteries-in-the-brain/>),* the team has already found neurosurgeons at Harvard Medical School willing to perform those trials.

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)