Rashidy Ahmady Azin, Khan Shadman, Han Hong, Gao Wei, Hosseinidoust Zeinab, Didar Tohid F
School of Biomedical Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4M1, Canada.
Andrew and Peggy Cherng Department of Medical Engineering, Division of Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA.
Adv Mater. 2025 Jun;37(24):e2419155. doi: 10.1002/adma.202419155. Epub 2025 Apr 10.
Medical micro- and nano-bots (MMBs and MNBs) have attracted a lot of attention owing to their precise motion for accessing difficult-to-reach areas in the body. These emerging tools offer the promise of non-invasive diagnostics and therapeutics for a wide range of ailments. Here, it is highlighted how MMBs and MNBs can revolutionize infection management. The latest applications of MMBs and MNBs are explored for infection prevention, including their use as accurate, minimally invasive surgeons and diagnosis, where they function as sensitive and rapid biosensors or carriers for contrast agents for real-time imaging of infected tissue. Further, the applications are outlined in treatment serving as anti-biofilm agents and smart carriers for antibiotics and anti-infective biologics. The current challenges in designing MMBs and MNBs are highlighted for overcoming immune barriers, moving to deep infected tissue, and swimming in low Reynolds numbers and discuss mitigating strategies. Finally, as a future perspective, the potential advantages of multi-drive propulsion, bioinspired, and artificial-intelligence-trained MMBs and MNBs are discussed, with a special focus on challenges and opportunities for their commercialization.
医用微型和纳米机器人（MMBs和MNBs）因其能够精确移动以进入人体难以触及的区域而备受关注。这些新兴工具为广泛的疾病提供了无创诊断和治疗的希望。在此，重点介绍MMBs和MNBs如何彻底改变感染管理。探讨了MMBs和MNBs在感染预防方面的最新应用，包括它们作为精确、微创外科医生的用途以及诊断功能，在诊断中它们充当敏感且快速的生物传感器或造影剂载体，用于对感染组织进行实时成像。此外，还概述了它们在治疗方面的应用，即作为抗生物膜剂以及抗生素和抗感染生物制剂的智能载体。强调了在设计MMBs和MNBs时当前面临的挑战，包括克服免疫屏障、进入深部感染组织以及在低雷诺数下游动，并讨论了缓解策略。最后，作为未来展望，讨论了多驱动推进、受生物启发以及经过人工智能训练的MMBs和MNBs的潜在优势，特别关注其商业化面临的挑战和机遇。
