Mind-controlled nanobots could release drugs inside your brain: Tiny machines may help treat depression and epilepsy

Tiny mind-controlled nanobots that can be injected into the human body and directed by a doctors' thought could be used to treat diseases in the future, the Daily Mail reports. 

Scientists have for the first time used thought alone to control nanorobots inside a living creature after getting them to release a drug inside cockroaches.

They say the technology could be used to treat brain disorders such as schizophrenia, depression and attention deficit disorder.

It echoes the nanite and nanobot technology seen in science fiction TV series like Star Trek and Red Dwarf, where swarms of microscopic robots can be used to repair damaged tissue.

Researchers at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel, and the Interdisciplinary Centre in Herzliya, built their nanobots using a form to DNA origami to create hollow shell-like structures.

Drugs could then be placed inside these before they were chemically locked shut with particles of iron oxide.

To release the drug, an electromagnet can be used to deform the DNA shells by pulling the DNA shells need to be heated with an electromagnet.

The nanobots mean doctors can control the release of drugs over time by only allowing a small number of them to release it at once.

Led by Dr Ido Bachelet, a principal investigator of nanotechnology at Bar Ilan University, the team have now shown they can control this process with human brainwaves.

To achieve it they trained a computer algorithm to detect when a person's brain was under strain from doing mental arithmetic.

By looking for changes in the activity of the brain, the computer was then able to trigger an electromagnet to unlock the nanorobots that had been injected into a cockroach.

They released a flourescent protein into the cockroaches, allowing the scientists to track the rate of release. 

Writing in the journal Public Library of Science One, the researchers said: 'As a proof of principle we demonstrate activation of DNA robots to cause a cellular effect inside the insect Blaberus discoidalis, by a cognitively straining task.

'This technology enables the online switching of a bioactive molecule on and off in response to a subject's cognitive state.'

They said the technology could be adapted to be used in humans by looking for changes in brain activity that come with schizophrenia or bouts of depression or epilepsy.

Patients could be injected with the nanobots carrying a drug and given a cap containing sensors capable of detecting the electrical activity of their brain.

When that activity displays a certain pattern, it could then trigger an electromagnet in the cap to cause the nanobots to release the drugs they are carrying.

Speaking to New Scientist, Sachar Arnon, lead author of the paper at the Interdisciplinary Center, said: 'It could be modified to suit your needs.'

In the case of epilepsy, for example, it could detect a seizure may be coming from the brain activity and release anti-seizure drugs from the nanobots.

Mr Arnon added it may even be possible to use the technology outside the medical field.

'Imagine if you could deliver the exact amount of alcohol that you wanted to keep you in a happy state but not drunk,' he told New Scientist. 'I think we've just scratched the surface.'