© 1999 Robert A. Freitas Jr. All Rights Reserved.

Robert A. Freitas Jr., Nanomedicine, Volume I: Basic Capabilities, Landes Bioscience, Georgetown, TX, 1999

4.5.2 Spatial Pressure Gradients

Two 0.3-micron³ pressure sensors located at either end of a 1 micron nanorobot could detect pressure changes as small as 10^-6 atm per micron, a ~1 atm/m spatial gradient. The maximum detectable gradient would involve adjacent measurements of minimum (10^-6 atm) and maximum (~10⁴ atm) absolute pressure, a theoretical peak spatial gradient of ~10¹⁶ atm/m, though a practical device could not survive exposure to such extreme shear force.

Last updated on 17 February 2003