Magnetically propelled soft microrobot navigating through constricted microchannels
Magnetically propelled soft microrobot navigating through constricted microchannels
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DOI：
10.1016/j.apmt.2021.101237
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发表时间：
2021-11-07
影响因子：
8.3
通讯作者：
Mei, Yongfeng
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Liu, Jinrun;Yu, Shimin;Mei, Yongfeng
微加工技术的最新进展为开发具有增强功能、功能和多功能性的微型机器人系统提供了重要的可能性。以前通过光刻技术制造的微型机器人通常缺乏在有限和狭窄的空间中自适应变形和导航的能力，因此阻碍了它们在复杂生物环境中的应用。在这里，微流体策略与浸涂工艺相结合，用于连续制造具有可控机械性能的软螺旋结构，如磁力推进的微型机器人，能够主动推进穿过狭窄而蜿蜒的微通道。由于具有自适应变形能力，磁驱动软体微型机器人可以在编程磁场的引导下主动穿过比微型机器人截面积小 2.21 倍的狭窄开口和 U 形弯曲毛细管。此外，由于游泳时螺旋的自适应收紧变形，软体微型机器人在高粘度流体中表现出更高的游泳速度。这种新型磁驱动软体微型机器人及其引人注目的性能将为微米和纳米尺度的生物医学操作开辟新的可能性。 (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. 保留所有权利。
Recent strides in microfabrication technologies offer important possibilities for developing microscale robotic systems with enhanced power, functionality and versatility. Previous microrobots fabricated by lithographic techniques usually lack the ability to adaptively deform in confined and constricted spaces and navigate through, therefore hindering their applications in complex biological environments. Here, a microfluidic strategy is combined with a dip-coating process for continuous fabrication of soft helical structures with controllable mechanical property as magnetically propelled microrobots, capable of actively propelling through narrow and sinuous microchannels. Because of their self-adaptive deformation capability, the magnetically propelled soft microrobots can actively navigate through a narrow opening, 2.21 times smaller than the sectional area of the microrobot, and a U-shape-bent capillary, directed by a programmed magnetic field. Additionally, the soft microrobot demonstrates increased swimming speed in a fluid of high viscosity, because of the adaptive tightening deformation of the helix when swimming. This new magnetically propelled soft microrobot and its attractive performance will open up new possibilities for biomedical operation at the micro and nanoscale. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.