Intravitreal introduction of untethered mobile microrobots can enable sutureless and precise ophthalmic procedures. Ex vivo and in vivo experiments demonstrate that microrobots can be manipulated inside the eye. Potential applications are targeted drug delivery for maculopathies such as AMD, intravenous deployment of anticoagulation agents for retinal vein occlusion (RVO), and mechanical applications, such as manipulation of epiretinal membrane peeling (ERM). The technology has the potential to reduce the invasiveness of ophthalmic surgery and assist in the treatment of a variety of ophthalmic diseases.

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The aim of the present study was to evaluate the long-term outcome of patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax treated with talc pleurodesis.A follow-up study was undertaken in all patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax who underwent talc pleurodesis for prolonged air leak or recurrence using thoracoscopy.In total, 112 patients underwent pleurodesis and follow-up data was obtained in 63 (56%) patients: 45 patients were available for clinical follow-up, 14 for telephone follow-up and four were dead. The causes of death were unrelated to the pleurodesis. There were no episodes of acute respiratory failure following pleurodesis. A total of 56 (95%) out of the cohort of 59 patients had a successful pleurodesis. Surgical pleurectomy was required in three (5%) patients for persistent air leak. Median duration of follow-up after talc pleurodesis was 118 months. Long-term success was observed in 53 (95%) out of 56 patients. Recurrent pneumothorax was observed in three (5%) out of 56 patients. Patients with successful talc pleurodesis had a median forced vital capacity (FVC) of 102% and median total lung capacity of 99% at follow-up. Comparing smokers and nonsmokers, the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) was significantly lower in smokers and there was a tendency for the FEV1/FVC ratio to be lower in smokers.Talc pleurodesis in patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax via thoracoscopy is an effective procedure associated with normal lung function in patients who do not smoke.

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Micro/nano robots have the potential to revolutionize many aspects of medicine. These untethered, wirelessly controlled and powered devices will make existing therapeutic and diagnostic procedures less invasive and will enable new procedures never before possible. Here we present five degree of freedom (5-DOF) wireless control of fully untethered magnetic micro/nano agents (3-DOF position, 2-DOF orientation). We accomplish this level of wireless control with electromagnetic manipulation systems that we call OctoMag and MiniMag. We demonstrate different magnetic control strategies and combination thereof for potential in vivo and in vitro applications. We show that these systems have the potential to be employed for targeted drug delivery and for procedures such as retinal-vein cannulation that require a high degree of dexterity.

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