Thrombosis requires immediate action because a blood clot can cause partial or total occlusion of a blood vessel, leading to the deprivation of oxygen and nutrients to vital tissue.
To treat blood clots, thrombolytic drugs are distributed systemically throughout the body or delivered directly to the blockage using catheters. Unfortunately, systemic distribution increases the risk of uncontrolled bleeding, and not all blood clots are easily accessible via a catheter. This has led to the invention of dissolvable sugar-based untethered magnetic robots (UMRs).
These robots are composed of biocompatible, dissolvable materials and encapsulate thrombolytic drugs. Due to their magnetic core, UMRs can be directed through the body non-invasively. When reaching the blood clot, the UMR dissolves and releases the drug, thereby treating the clot at the target site. This technique offers a different approach for navigating to hard-to-reach areas and achieving targeted drug delivery.
The bachelor assignment will be focusing on the dissolvable rate of an Untethered Magnetic Robot. We will map the parameters that influence the dissolvability of the UMR.