3D Motion and Swarm Control of Magnetically Propelled Microrobots for in vivo Particulate Drug Delivery

该项目将演示如何使用旋转磁场来推动和引导用于药物输送等医疗应用的磁性微游器。与该领域以前的工作不同，这个项目考虑了成群的微泳者，而不是单一的交通工具，并允许具有非理想行为特征的液体，例如粘液。结果将使用可控制的合成生物流体进行实验验证。这些结果将指导未来微机器人控制系统的发展，并向体内实际可控的磁性微泳者迈进。免费外展计划将为K-12、本科生和研究生提供和培养一个独特的跨学科培训环境，利用引人注目的微泳者控制、药物输送和触觉设备。PI最近展示了非手性磁性刚性几何图形在磁场旋转时能够推进。本项目建立在这一论证的基础上，通过在随机微分方程组的设置下建立运动控制问题，以创建用于磁力微泳者的3D运动和群体控制的随机控制系统。微泳者的运动控制是通过磁控和计算机视觉反馈来完成的。值得注意的是，微泳运动员个人身体参数的变化将被用来解决流体环境中的不确定性。该方法将用于制定大量微泳者在不同的2D和3D工作空间中的运动控制和协调方案，使用解决可控性和最优化等问题的运动规划和控制框架。结果将在模拟生物环境的参数可控的非牛顿流体中进行实验验证。

This project will demonstrate the use of rotating magnetic fields to propel and steer magnetic microswimmers for medical applications such as drug delivery. Unlike previous work in this area, this project considers swarms of microswimmers instead of single vehicles, and allows fluids with non-ideal behavior characteristic of, for example, mucus. The results will be experimentally validated using a controllable synthetic biofluid. The results will guide future development of control systems for microrobotics, and advance towards practically controllable magnetic microswimmers in vivo. A complimentary outreach program will provide and cultivate a unique, interdisciplinary training environment for K-12, undergraduate and graduate students, exploiting eye-catching microswimmer control, drug delivery, and haptic devices.The PI has recently demonstrated that achiral magnetic rigid geometries are capable of propulsion when rotated by a magnetic field. This project builds upon that demonstration, by formulating the motion control problem in the setting of stochastic differential equations, in order to create a stochastic control system for 3D motion and swarm control of magnetic microswimmers. Motion control of microswimmers is accomplished with magnetic control and computer vision feedback. Notably, variations in the physical parameters of the individual microswimmers will be leveraged to address uncertainty in the fluid environment. The approach will be used to formulate control and coordination schemes for the motion of a large number of microswimmers in heterogeneous 2D and 3D workspaces, using motion planning and control frameworks that address issues such as controllability and optimality. The results will be experimentally validated in a non-Newtonian fluid with controllable parameters that simulates a biological environment.