Physical Intelligence Department, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
Lab Chip. 2017 May 16;17(10):1705-1724. doi: 10.1039/c7lc00064b.
Untethered micron-scale mobile robots can navigate and non-invasively perform specific tasks inside unprecedented and hard-to-reach inner human body sites and inside enclosed organ-on-a-chip microfluidic devices with live cells. They are aimed to operate robustly and safely in complex physiological environments where they will have a transforming impact in bioengineering and healthcare. Research along this line has already demonstrated significant progress, increasing attention, and high promise over the past several years. The first-generation microrobots, which could deliver therapeutics and other cargo to targeted specific body sites, have just been started to be tested inside small animals toward clinical use. Here, we review frontline advances in design, fabrication, and testing of untethered mobile microrobots for bioengineering applications. We convey the most impactful and recent strategies in actuation, mobility, sensing, and other functional capabilities of mobile microrobots, and discuss their potential advantages and drawbacks to operate inside complex, enclosed and physiologically relevant environments. We lastly draw an outlook to provide directions in the veins of more sophisticated designs and applications, considering biodegradability, immunogenicity, mobility, sensing, and possible medical interventions in complex microenvironments.
无缆微型移动机器人可以在前所未有的难以到达的人体内部部位和带有活细胞的封闭器官芯片微流控设备中导航和非侵入性地执行特定任务。它们旨在在复杂的生理环境中稳健安全地运行，在该环境中，它们将在生物工程和医疗保健领域产生变革性的影响。近年来，沿着这条线的研究已经取得了重大进展，引起了越来越多的关注，并展现出了很高的前景。第一代微机器人已经开始在小动物体内进行测试，以将治疗药物和其他货物递送到靶向特定身体部位，即将开始临床试验。在这里，我们回顾了无缆移动微机器人在生物工程应用中的设计、制造和测试的前沿进展。我们传达了移动微机器人在致动、移动、传感和其他功能能力方面最具影响力和最新的策略，并讨论了它们在复杂、封闭和生理相关环境中运行的潜在优势和缺点。最后，我们展望了在更复杂的设计和应用中提供方向的思路，考虑了生物降解性、免疫原性、移动性、传感和在复杂微环境中可能进行的医疗干预。
