Tiny Robot Can Remove Swallowed Button Batteries

<p>It's a little known but dangerous problem -- nearly 3,500 people swallow button batteries every year.&nbsp;Normally, the tiny battery pass through the body without a problem, but if they don't, it can be a real problem.</p>

Monday, May 16th 2016, 10:15 am

By: News 9


It's a little known but dangerous problem -- nearly 3,500 people swallow button batteries every year. Normally, the tiny battery pass through the body without a problem, but if they don't, it can be a real problem.

Swallowing one of those batteries can be extremely dangerous. Just this year, a toddler in Jay, Oklahoma, passed away a day after swallowing a button battery. Now doctors are testing out a new solution that can help your body get rid of the battery.

It's a tiny robot that can be swallowed in the form of a capsule. Once inside the body, the robot opens itself up and is steered by external magnetic fields. It then crawls across the walls of the stomach and can grasp and remove the swallowed battery.

Researchers say it could also be used to patch up internal wounds. The team of researchers presents the robot this week at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

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