``Fantastic Voyage'' Influential works from Tezuka's manga to sitcoms (Part 2)

Implications for real medicine

In this way, although this work has a rather absurd story, it has had a great influence on actual medical and pharmaceutical research. For example, research is actually being carried out on ultra-small medical robots that can move inside the human body and directly treat affected areas, and ``Fantastic Voyage'' has given developers a big hint. (*3)

In fact, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is using filamentous robots called ` `Ferromagnetic soft continuum robots,'' which remotely control the inside of cerebral blood vessels using magnetism, as well as 3D printers and ink containing magnetic particles, to create a model for the human body. We are researching soft robots such as ` `Magnetic shape-shifters' ' that can collect tissue samples and deliver drugs to specific parts of the body.

In addition, the California Institute of Technology has developed an idea to deliver drugs using a group of microrobots made of tiny metal spheres . proposed a microrobotic system that reaches target locations within the gastrointestinal tract .

In addition, `` Sonopil '', developed by researchers at the University of Leeds in the UK, uses a robotic arm with a magnet attached to it that is controlled by AI outside the body to move an ultra-small capsule that also has a built-in magnet freely within the intestines. .

*3 Capsule endoscopes have now been put into practical use that can take and record pictures of the intestinal mucosa while passing through the intestinal tract just by drinking. Dr. Gabriel Idan, who was involved in the development of camera-equipped missiles at Rafael (now a state-owned company), the research and development arm of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, met gastroenterologist Dr. Ethan Scarpa in 1981. , I came up with the idea of ​​having micromissiles pass through the gastrointestinal tract while transmitting images.

From derivative works to inspired works