Researchers use magnets to guide tiny robots to improve delivery of chemotherapy drugs into tumours.
A team of scientists at the University of Edinburgh increased drug penetration by more than 10 times, using miniature, algae-based robots.
That’s potentially good news for patients with bladder cancer, which is among the 10 most common cancers worldwide. Treatment often involves by surgery to remove the tumour, followed by direct drug instillation – where medication is delivered into the bladder through a catheter.
Unfortunately, this kind of treatment can often struggle to penetrate deeply into the tumour tissue, limiting effectiveness and requiring longer treatment times or higher doses.
In an effort to do better, researchers at the University of Edinburgh and Xiamen University in China developed biohybrid magnetic microbots from natural, single-celled microalgae. These are biocompatible and biodegradable, so can be used safely in the body. What’s more, their delicate nanoporous structure provides secure packaging and controlled release of drugs.
In addition, the algae are abundant in nature, cost-effective and suitable for scalable production.
During laboratory tests, microbots were loaded with the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin and guided towards tumours in mice using externally programmed magnetic fields. Using real-time ultrasound imaging feedback, researchers were able to precisely control the movement of the robots inside the bladder, such as rolling, rotating and switching between transport and release modes.
In fact, the researchers say the co-ordinated motion of groups of microbots through the narrow spaces of the body resembles schools of fish or flocks of birds.
The result of the lab tests was increased drug penetration by more than 10 times compared with the standard treatment. After one week of therapy, tumour burden was reduced to less than 3%of that seen in the control group. Treatment in mice could be completed in some 30 minutes, much quicker than conventional treatments.
- Read the full paper: ‘Machine-intelligent multimodal algebot for intracavitary chemotherapy’, published in Nature Nanotechnology (June 22, 2026)
While the researchers are optimistic that their work could support more effective, less invasive strategies for treating bladder cancer, they – inevitably – caution that further studies are needed.
Dr Qi Zhou, Study Co-Lead and Lecturer in Biomedical Informatics at the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Neuroscience and Cardiovascular Research, says: ‘Our microrobots are engineered from tablet-like microalgae, can be remotely guided to the tumour using real-time imaging feedback, and release drugs exactly where they are needed to drive rapid tissue penetration in a minimally invasive way.’
Professor Xiaohui Yan, from Xiamen University in China, adds: ‘This study highlights a non-invasive approach to overcoming the biological barriers that limit drug penetration in bladder tumours. We are now discussing translational follow-up studies with hospitals, with the long-term aim of clinical trials after further preclinical validation and regulatory review.’
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