NRI: 3-D Maneuverable Feedback-Controlled Micro Swimming Drone for Biomedical Applications

NRI：用于生物医学应用的 3D 可操纵反馈控制微型游泳无人机

• 批准号: 1637815
• 负责人: Sung Cho
• 金额: $ 72.47万
• 依托单位: University of Pittsburgh
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-09-01 至 2020-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1637815&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NRI; Maneuverable; Feedback; Controlled; Micro

Inspired by the old classic movie "Fantastic Voyage" and the relatively recent movie "Inner Space", many scientist and engineers have investigated and developed medical microswimmers that possibly navigate inside human body for the purpose of drug delivery, bio-sensing, imaging, micro surgery, etc. in the hard-to-reach spots. So far, several methods for microswimmers have been developed including magnetic actuation, harness of bacteria, use of biological chemical/biological fuels, etc. However, these methods have many drawbacks including high bulkiness, high cost and incompatibility with human body. In addition, all the above methods were never or rarely integrated with feedback control or tracing systems to maneuver the microswimmer in a three-dimensional space. This National Robotics Initiative (NRI) award supports fundamental research on manufacturing three-dimensionally maneuverable, biodegradable, untethered, micro swimming drones, studying/developing feedback control algorithms to control their three-dimensional trajectory, and evaluating them in biological environments. The proposed micro drone is propelled by acoustically excited micro bubbles such that its driving system can be integrated with the current clinical ultrasound system with minimal amendment. The proposed drone has tremendous impact with societal benefits on various potential medical applications: local treatments of tumors, removal of fatty deposits on blood vessel walls, break or removal of blood clots, kidney stones, liver stones, gouts, burn cleaning and wound debriding, attack and removal of parasites, removal and break of tar in lungs, drug delivery and controlled release, etc. This research project will also have significant impact on education by (i) re-engineering coursework for both undergraduates and graduates in inter/multi-disciplinary areas; (ii) having graduates and undergraduates involved in research especially from the underrepresented groups; and (iii) demonstrating results from this project in K-12 schools and in public websites and hosting a robotics workshop for underrepresented high school students. Finally, the completion of experimental setups in this research will improve infrastructure for training in science and engineering at University of Pittsburgh. The 3-D micro swimming drone will be microfabricated from biodegradable materials. The drone has gaseous bubbles being oscillated by externally applied ultrasound waves. The waves with focused or unfocused excitation allows individual drones to maneuver in a 3-D space. A dynamic inversion-based feedback controller and a state observer will control the frequency and amplitude of the exciting US waves to force the drone to follow/track a user-defined 3-D path. The developed drone integrated with actuation and control units will be tested under hydrodynamic conditions similar to living organs to explore possible practical applications. In parallel, the underlying physics of 3-D manufacturing, bubble/fluid dynamics, ultrasound beamforming method, and a Lyapunov stability based feedback controller-estimator configuration will be investigated. In addition, stability and convergence guarantees in control will be provided. The fabrication and assembly technique of 3-D structures can be readily applied to many fields whose applications otherwise remain on 2-D structures. Novel beamforming technologies developed for US actuating/imaging of micro object can be adapted for high quality ultrasound imaging for broader, general applications. Advances in understanding and new findings of nonlinear (bubble) cavity oscillation and associated fluid dynamics will help develop the best imaging strategy for microbubbles inside microvasculature structures. In addition, the Lyapunov stability-based nonlinear control design method with a state estimator can be applied to control other robots (and other nonlinear systems with zero dynamics) where only partial information is available. The research results will be disseminated through academic/industrial meetings and publications and integrated with multi-/inter-disciplinary education and public outreach programs.

受经典电影《奇妙的航行》和最近的电影《内太空》的启发，许多科学家和工程师已经研究和开发了可能在人体内导航的医疗微游泳者，用于药物输送，生物传感，成像，显微手术等。目前，已经开发了几种微游泳器的方法，包括磁驱动、利用细菌、使用生物化学/生物燃料等。然而，这些方法具有许多缺点，包括体积大、成本高和与人体不相容。此外，所有上述方法从未或很少与反馈控制或跟踪系统集成以在三维空间中操纵微型游泳者。这个国家机器人计划（NRI）奖支持制造三维可折叠，可生物降解，无系绳，微型游泳无人机的基础研究，研究/开发反馈控制算法以控制其三维轨迹，并在生物环境中对其进行评估。所提出的微型无人机由声激励的微气泡推动，使得其驱动系统可以与当前的临床超声系统集成，只需最小的修改。拟议的无人机对各种潜在的医疗应用具有巨大的社会效益：肿瘤的局部治疗，血管壁上脂肪沉积物的去除，血凝块、肾结石、肝结石、痛风的破裂或去除，烧伤清洁和伤口清创，寄生虫的攻击和去除，肺中焦油的去除和破裂，药物递送和控制释放，这项研究计划亦会对教育产生重大影响，包括（i）重整跨学科/多学科范畴的本科生和研究生课程;（ii）让研究生和本科生参与研究，特别是来自人数不足的组别;以及（iii）在K-12学校和公共网站上展示该项目的成果，并为代表性不足的高中生举办机器人研讨会。最后，本研究中实验装置的完成将改善匹兹堡大学科学和工程培训的基础设施。3D微型游泳无人机将由可生物降解材料微制造。无人机具有通过外部施加的超声波振荡的气泡。具有聚焦或非聚焦激发的波允许单个无人机在3D空间中机动。基于动态逆的反馈控制器和状态观测器将控制激励US波的频率和振幅，以迫使无人机跟随/跟踪用户定义的3D路径。开发的无人机集成了驱动和控制单元，将在类似于活体器官的水动力条件下进行测试，以探索可能的实际应用。同时，3-D制造，气泡/流体动力学，超声波波束形成方法，和基于李雅普诺夫稳定性的反馈估计器配置的基础物理将进行研究。此外，将提供控制中的稳定性和收敛保证。三维结构的制造和组装技术可以很容易地应用于许多领域，否则应用程序仍然停留在二维结构。为微目标的US致动/成像开发的新型波束形成技术可以适用于更广泛的一般应用的高质量超声成像。对非线性（气泡）腔振荡和相关流体动力学的理解和新发现的进展将有助于开发微血管结构内微气泡的最佳成像策略。此外，基于李雅普诺夫稳定性的非线性控制设计方法与状态估计器可以应用到控制其他机器人（和其他非线性系统的零动态），只有部分信息是可用的。研究成果将通过学术/工业会议和出版物传播，并与多/跨学科教育和公共宣传计划相结合。

项目成果

Effect of bubble interface position on propulsion and its control for oscillating-bubble powered microswimmer

气泡界面位置对振荡气泡动力微型游泳器推进力的影响及其控制

• 发表时间: 2018
• 期刊: The 31st IEEE International Conference on Microelectromechanical Systems
• 作者: Fang-Wei Liu, Ye Zhan

3-D swimming microdrone powered by acoustic bubbles

• DOI: 10.1039/d0lc00976h
• 发表时间: 2021-01-21
• 期刊: LAB ON A CHIP
• 影响因子: 6.1
• 作者: Liu, Fang-Wei;Cho, Sung Kwon
• 通讯作者: Cho, Sung Kwon

PDMS-Zwitterionic Hybrid for Facile, Antifouling Microfluidic Device Fabrication

PDMS-两性离子杂化物用于简便、防污微流体装置的制造

• DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.1c03375
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Langmuir
• 影响因子: 3.9
• 作者: Mercader, Anthony;Ye, Sang-Ho;Kim, Seungil;Orizondo, Ryan A.;Cho, Sung Kwon;Wagner, William R.
• 通讯作者: Wagner, William R.

3-D MICRO SWIMMING DRONE WITH MANEUVERABILITY

具有可操作性的 3D 微型游泳无人机

• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: The 32nd IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems
• 作者: Liu, Fang-Wei;Cho, Sung Kwon
• 通讯作者: Cho, Sung Kwon

Dielectrowetting manipulation for digital microfluidics: creating, transporting, splitting, and merging of droplets

• DOI: 10.1039/c7lc00006e
• 发表时间: 2017-03-21
• 期刊: LAB ON A CHIP
• 影响因子: 6.1
• 作者: Geng, Hongyao;Feng, Jian;Cho, Sung Kwon
• 通讯作者: Cho, Sung Kwon