South Korean researchers at Chonnam National University have created a tiny robot that is capable of traveling through the bloodstream to clear arteries.

This is not a nanobot. It operates at a much larger scale – it is slightly less than a millimeter in size.

Perhaps it should be called a micro-cyborg. The bot’s locomotion is powered by heart tissue cultivated from the patient. This means that there is no need for a cumbersome battery pack. It runs on the same ATP -> ADP chemical reaction that the rest of the body relies on.

Phil and I discussed how practical it would be to power in-body bots this way in our last FastForward Radio show.

This bot can move 55 yards a week and dispense artery clearing meds where they are most needed.

Faster, please.