IT HAS been dubbed the Proteus motor, after the miniature submarine that travelled through the human body in the science fiction movie Fantastic Voyage.

And its Australian creators hope their tiny motor - which is less than the width of three human hairs - will soon power medical nanorobots that can swim through tiny blood vessels into the brain.

James Friend, of Monash University, said that such devices could enter previously unreachable brain areas, unblocking blood clots, cleaning vessels or sending back images to surgeons.