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Nanodrones can help prevent heart attack
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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A group of researchers from the United States has developed a new technology that can restore damaged arteries. The technology is based on a microscopic drone - a special device whose size is thousands of times smaller than the tip of a human hair. Many of these drones use the protein drug annexin A1, which helps restore damaged areas of arteries.
The research group has already conducted tests on laboratory animals, which, according to the authors, showed good results.
American specialists have used microscopic drones to restore tissue in damaged large arteries. The devices will be able to easily penetrate large arteries and, if necessary, restore damaged areas, which will significantly reduce the likelihood of a heart attack, especially in people at risk.
Microscopic drones are essentially nanoparticles designed to destroy cholesterol plaques. Since the drones are microscopic in size, the experts made them from soluble plastic.
According to the developers themselves, this technology will make a breakthrough in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
The nanodrones contain a natural protein preparation that specialists obtained from the annexin A1 protein, which is involved in the restoration of damaged tissue.
Tests on laboratory animals have shown that treatment with nanoparticles can reduce the number of cholesterol plaques several times in just five weeks. As a result, the likelihood of blood vessel blockage is significantly reduced. In addition, nanodrones can reduce the level of active oxygen species.
As part of the study, the experts successfully used the new technology on laboratory rodents and hope that the new treatment method will show the same results in humans.
Omid Farokhazad, the leading expert of the research project, noted that their work was the first to use nanoparticles to combat atherosclerosis in laboratory rodents. Dr. Farokhazad also emphasized that nanodrones can be used not only to treat cardiovascular diseases, but also to restore other tissues in the body. But despite the fact that the technology has shown good results, it requires further research, since rodents, even with atherosclerosis, do not have heart attacks.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time that drones have been used by specialists. For example, in the Netherlands, a proposal was made to use drones for medical purposes and make the Ambulance a real ambulance.
A drone that moves at a speed of 100 km/h can reach its destination in just a few minutes. A young technologist has created a device that includes a defibrillator and the necessary tools required to provide first aid for a heart attack. The drone also has a camera built into it, allowing doctors to monitor the process from a distance.
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