Design of Nano-Robots for Exposing Cancer Cells

A design of a nano-robot which can navigate, detect cancer cells in blood and actuate the release of drugs is discussed. The nano-robot was designed with blood energy harvesting capability and accumulation of electricity in a capacitor, that forms the main body of the nanorobot. Glucose hunger-based cancer detectors immobilized on the nano-robot, reduces its electrical resistance, when attached to a cancer cell. This mechanism, in-turn allows electric current to activate a nano-electrical-mechanical (NEM) relay (mechanical transistor) to break the ceiling, exposing a drug identified by the immune system for cell elimination. This concept is in line with the effort to design an autonomous computational nano-robot for in-vivo medical diagnosis and treatment. A collective system of electrical manipulation, bio-detection and NEM actuation can visualize the programmability in the nano matters. The concept can also be considered as a step to bridge the gap between theoretical swarming/navigation techniques
and a computational hardware for plausible implementation of the theory.

Significance Statement: Numerous research exists on cancer diagnosis and treatment, wherein, research on conventional medicines holds a major share. In recent times, alternate treatment techniques for cancer has shown significant results and have provided proof-ofconcepts for treatment of the same. A facile approach of an energy harvester, glucose hunger detector for cancer cells and actuator, combined as a platform for drug exposure, is discussed. We present a collective system of electrical manipulation, bio-detection and NEM actuation to visualize the programmability in nano-robots. The calculations and simulation results provide a proof-of-concept towards a plausible implementation of an autonomous computational nano-robot with bio-detection, logical decisioning and actuation for drug exposure. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first of its kind that presents an overall picture towards an autonomous computational nano-robot for cancer diagnosis and treatment.