Development of a magnetic microrobot for carrying and delivering targeted cells

By Junyang Li, Xiaojian Li, Tao Luo, Ran Wang, Chichi Liu, Shuxun Chen, Dongfang Li, J. Yue, Shuk Han Cheng, D. Sun. Science Robotics, 2018

396 citations recorded by the source corpus.

A three-dimensional magnetically driven microrobot can carry and deliver cells to targeted areas in vivo. The precise delivery of targeted cells through magnetic field–driven microrobots/carriers is a promising technique for targeted therapy and tissue regeneration. This paper presents a microrobot designed with a burr-like porous spherical structure for carrying and delivering targeted cells in vivo under a magnetic gradient field–driven mechanism. The robot was fabricated by using three-dimensional laser lithography and coated with Ni for magnetic actuation and Ti for biocompatibility. Numerical and experimental studies demonstrated that the proposed microrobot design could enhance magnetic driving capability, promote cell-carrying capacity, and benefit cell viability. Microrobots loaded with cells could be automatically controlled to reach a desired site by using a self-constructed electromagnetic coil system, as verified by in vivo transport of cell-cultured microrobots in zebrafish embryos. The carried cells could be spontaneously released from the microrobot to the surrounding tissues; in vitro experiments showed that cells from the microrobot were directly released onto the desired site or were able to pass through the blood vessel–like microchannel to arrive at the delivery area. Further in vivo cell-releasing tests were performed on nude mice, followed by histological study. This research provides a microrobotic device platform for regenerative medicine and cell-based therapy.

Subfields: Condensed Matter Physics, Control and Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/fad93e49fc2a27c9c23151a75b410968f1f00009