12.04.2024

A new medical technique utilizing magnet-guided microrobots for treating liver tumors has been developed by a Canadian research team, offering a potential new approach in oncology.

Canadian researchers, under the guidance of Montreal radiologist Dr. Gilles Soulez, have developed a new approach for treating liver tumors by utilizing magnet-guided microrobots within an MRI device. This groundbreaking concept, once thought to be purely theoretical, has now been proven to have practical applications.

Image: Two researchers are standing side by side, smiling for a photo in a bright corridor with windows, likely within a university or research facility; Copyright: CHUM

Dr Gilles Soulez, a CRCHUM researcher and professor at Université de Montréal, with Ning Li, a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Soulez’s laboratory.

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Overcoming technical hurdles

The team faced the challenge that gravity overpowered the magnetic force when guiding the microrobots to tumors located above the injection site. By creating an algorithm to optimize the patient's positioning within a clinical MRI, they could leverage gravity alongside magnetic navigation forces, enhancing the robots' travel efficacy to the tumor's arterial branches.

Enhancing interventional radiology

Published in Science Robotics, this new methodology could transform existing interventional radiology treatments for liver cancers like hepatocellular carcinoma, which causes approximately 700,000 deaths globally each year.

Invasive treatments and innovations

Currently, liver tumors are commonly treated with transarterial chemoembolization, a process requiring skilled personnel and involves blocking the blood supply to the tumor. However, the magnetic resonance navigation approach proposed by Dr. Soulez's team may offer a less invasive and more precise alternative, with MRI providing better tumor visualization compared to X-rays.

Collaborative research efforts

This research is a collaborative effort between the teams of Dr. Sylvain Martel (Polytechnique Montreal), Dr. Urs O. Häfeli (University of British Columbia). The study's first authors, Ning Li, Ph.D., Cyril Tous, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellows, and Phillip Fei, MD-M.Sc. student, carried out the work in Dr. Soulez's laboratory.

Trials conducted on twelve pigs have successfully replicated human anatomical conditions, confirming the microrobots' efficient navigation towards algorithm-targeted destinations. Furthermore, simulations on anatomical atlases of human livers indicate a high compatibility rate with the navigation algorithm to reach tumors in over 95 percent of cases.

Despite these advancements, further development is required before clinical application. Optimizing real-time navigation with artificial intelligence, modeling blood flow and magnetic field direction, and simulating fluid flow are the next steps to enhance this technology's accuracy and effectiveness.

MEDICA-tradefair.com; Source: University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM)

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