Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80303, United States.
ACS Nano. 2023 Aug 8;17(15):14196-14204. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.3c03723. Epub 2023 Jul 26.
Microrobots are being explored for biomedical applications, such as drug delivery, biological cargo transport, and minimally invasive surgery. However, current efforts largely focus on proof-of-concept studies with nontranslatable materials through a "" approach, limiting the potential for clinical adaptation. While these proof-of-concept studies have been key to advancing microrobot technologies, we believe that the distinguishing capabilities of microrobots will be most readily brought to patient bedsides through a "" approach, which involves focusing on unsolved problems to inform the design of microrobots with practical capabilities. As outlined below, we propose that the clinical translation of microrobots will be accelerated by a judicious choice of target applications, improved delivery considerations, and the rational selection of translation-ready biomaterials, ultimately reducing patient burden and enhancing the efficacy of therapeutic drugs for difficult-to-treat diseases.
微型机器人正在被探索用于生物医学应用，如药物输送、生物货物运输和微创手术。然而，目前的努力主要集中在使用不可转化材料通过“概念验证研究”来实现，限制了临床应用的潜力。虽然这些概念验证研究对于推进微机器人技术至关重要，但我们认为，通过“以临床为中心的设计”方法，微型机器人的独特功能将最容易带到患者床边，这种方法涉及专注于未解决的问题，以设计具有实际功能的微机器人。如下所述，我们提出通过明智地选择目标应用、改进的输送考虑因素以及合理选择可转化的生物材料，最终减轻患者负担并提高治疗难治病的药物疗效，从而加速微机器人的临床转化。
