Nanomotortje wordt wereldnieuws

Nanomotortje

De rotor bestaat uit drie aaneengeschakelde koolstofringen (anthraceen) tussen twee ethynyl-moleculen als ophanging. De spanning wordt aangelegd tussen de twee lagers enerzijds en een derde elektrode die zich naast de rotor bevindt.

Omdat het antraceenmolecuul een dipoolmoment heeft (de elektronen zijn niet gelijkmatig over het molecuul verspreid) zal de rotor een kracht ondervinden wanneer het elektrisch veld tussen de elektroden verandert.

Het Britse wetenschapsblad New Scientist schrijft erover. Na een nanomotortje dat door licht wordt aangedreven of door een wisselend magnetisch veld is het nanomotortje op elektriciteit een welkome aanvulling.

Of beter: dat zou het kunnen worden als het ook echt gemaakt wordt. Ontwerper ir. Jos Seldenthuis (Technische Natuurwetenschappen) verklaart dat verschillende aspecten al zijn uitgetest en dat er nu hard gewerkt wordt aan het motortje als geheel.

Als toepassing denken de makers aan aandrijving van microscopische transportbanden of pompjes in toekomstige nanomachines.

Name: Durandus Vonck (31)
Nationality: Dutch
PhD supervisor: Dr. Richard Goosens (Industrial Design Engineering)
Subject: Safer surgery with vacuum technique
Thesis defence: In less than two years

“Minimal invasive surgery is tricky. Surgeons can only see what they’re doing on a screen, and the instruments they use make it more complicated. When they try to remove a gallbladder for instance, they use a laparoscopic grasper. This is a tool with which they can grab the bladder. The grasper has sharp ends with notches, which makes it easier to grab the gallbladder or a piece of the slippery intestine. But this is also the reason for many problems during operations. The grasper could damage soft organs in the abdominal area, and this may cause a delayed perforation or an infection that can have severe consequences for the patient. Inexperienced surgeons in particular have a hard time using the grasper.

I am developing a new kind of instrument as an alternative to the laparoscopic grasper. My instrument doesn’t have a grasper, but rather uses vacuum technique. My instrument has suction cups that suck on to the intestine or gallbladder.
It is hard to find the right suction cups, and so I’ve created several. At the moment I’m working with a suction cup that the surgeon attaches to the tissue of the intestine and that sucks the tissue in like a balloon. I’m also working on a new handle. When the surgeon squeezes the handle, the cup attaches itself. The first prototype has a handle that has to be squeezed all the time to suck. Surgeons at the Amsterdam Medical Centre and Catharina Hospital in Eindhoven have tested my instrument, and they complained about the handle. It was tough to squeeze and make complicated moves in the stomach at the same time. Therefore I’m working on a new prototype. The surgeon only has to squeeze once to use the vacuum technology.

Surgeons are enthusiastic about the possibilities of my instrument. They have tested the prototype on intestines of pigs, and the tests went very well. No tissue has been harmed so far, which is important, because it shows that my instrument will be much easier to use for inexperienced surgeons. They also like the instrument because it has such a basic technique, and this makes it easy for them to understand how it works. The surgeons encouraged me to also create a new vacuum technique instrument that will make it possible to stabilise and control an intestine or gallbladder during minimal invasive surgery. Such a tool does not yet exist.

I have high hopes that my instrument will be used in the near future. I’m already in contact with Karl Storz, a German company that develops and manufactures high end tools for surgeons. In January I will present to them two new prototypes with better handles and suction cups.”