ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Imagine tiny robots moving through your bloodstream, breaking down blood clots, repairing damaged cells, or delivering targeted drugs to tumor sites.
This isn't science fiction---it is the real-world potential of microrobotics, a field on the verge of revolutionizing robotics research and transforming medicine as we know it.
In episode #3 of my podcast, I sit down with leading expert Brad Nelson, Professor of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at ETH Zürich, to explore the fascinating world of robots at the smallest scales.
Content
00:38 Beginnings of Microrobotics: Manipulation at Small-Scale
02:45 Grand Challenges in the Field: Small, Intelligent Machines
03:27 Medical Applications of Microrobots
04:08 Regulatory Challenges: Sterility
05:08 Personal Motivations: From the Space Program to Microrobotics
06:43 First Robotics Project: Assembly Workcells and Force Control
09:00 PhD in Robotics: Microscopic Robots
10:14 Curiosity and Forces at the Smallest Scales
12:06 First Interest in Medical Robotics
15:13 Two Leading Causes of Death: Heart Attacks and Ischemic Strokes
16:09 Move Micro Robots: Magnetic Field Control
18:11 From Blockage to Relief: CTs, Nanoparticles, and Microneedles
21:25 Detection of Strokes: Face, Arm, and Speech Test
23:06 Formation of Blockages
23:55 Prevention of Blood Clots: Smoking, Diet, and Exercise
25:28 Femtotools: Force Sensors at Small Scales
27:19 Aeon Scientific and Nanoflex Robotics
28:03 Magnetic Fields: Dangers and Weak Fields
29:36 Effects of High-Frequency Magnetic Fields
30:18 From Research to Product: Challenges and Lessons learned
32:49 Building Exceptional Teams: Passion, Teamwork, and Uncertainty
34:11 Ideal Research Student: Excitement, Collaboration, Hard Work
35:39 Structure of Daily Work Days
37:18 What is the Smallest Scale for Robots?
39:40 The Limit: One Micrometer
40:21 Alternatives to Magnetic Fields for Actuation
41:11 Applications outside the Medical Field
43:08 How realistic is the movie Transcendence?
45:00 Current State on Transporting Drugs through the Body
47:09 Micro-robots in the Brain: What can we already do?
48:18 What Bradley is most proud of
48:45 What do you need to break into Micro-Robotics?
50:31 How to create a good interdisciplinary team?
51:59 How do LLMs affect the field of Micro-Robotics?
54:00 Current Research: Robotics Capsules and Teleoperations
56:34 Time in United States Peace Corps: Botswana and Teaching Math
58:56 Moving from Minnesota to Switzerland
01:00:52 Why Robotics is Amazing
Episode Links
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/522KaV5Os08rHJUNTjaRhn?si=0jgsp-7HRcacRZlCxyCW7Q
- Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bradley-nelson-microrobotics-in-medicine-andreas-orthey-3/id1812910570?i=1000706674728
- Bradley Nelson Website: https://msrl.ethz.ch/the-lab/team/Brad_Nelson.html
Podcast Links
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/andreasorthey
- X/Twitter: https://x.com/andreas_orthey
- Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/andreasorthey/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aorthey/
- Support: https://buymeacoffee.com/aorthey
- Personal Website: https://aorthey.com
- Podcast Website: https://aorthey.com/src/podcast
