Liquid Microbot can split into tiny droplets and re-assemble into a blob, helps in biomedicine

The world of robots as we know is expanding far beyond our humanoid fantasies, thanks to innovations in magnetic and liquid designs that have given rise to new categories of robots that are causing a stir in the biomedical industry. A liquid microbot can be useful in non-invasive surgery.

A group of researchers from Soochow University in Taiwan, Harbin Institute of Technology in China, and Germany's Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems have developed a liquid microbot that can split into small pieces to fit through small openings and reassemble itself on the other side. This latest entry into the soft robot market. Liquid microbot splits the magnetic fluid. This liquid microbot assembles automatically with the help of a set of controllable magnets and can direct the microbot to move or change shape, as needed, by acting on the nanoparticles and splitting under the influence of a magnetic field.

The Scale-Reconfigurable Miniature Ferrofluidic Robot (SMFR), a soft robot, is created by dipping iron oxide nanoparticles in hydrocarbon oil to create oil-based ferrofluid droplets. The ferrofluid can react to magnetic fields and magnets.

The robot's ferrofluids also provide outstanding flexibility and swift motion, and they are simple to control. This is because its particles are loosely connected, allowing the robot to travel readily within confined spaces, change its shape, and divide when subjected to a magnetic field.

The study team used a maze with difficult turns, narrow passages, and other obstacles to show the SFMR's capabilities. The soft robot was able to navigate the maze by changing shapes, lengthening, shortening, and reassembling. The researchers' magnets were utilized to mold the robot into a thin, elongated shape that could fit through a small passage. They could also break a centimeter- or millimeter-sized robot into a collection of a millimeter- or micrometer-sized robots using magnetic fields. The magnetic field was again adjusted, causing the components to come together once more.

The scientists were able to divide the robot into the required number of pieces, reassemble them into a single unit when needed, and regulate all of its operations by using different magnetic fields.

The scientists were able to divide the robot into the required number of pieces, reassemble them into a single unit when needed, and regulate all of its operations by using different magnetic fields.

SMFR for Biomedicine

The SFMR, according to the researchers, can be used in medical technology, particularly in fields where large, heavy, and stiff devices are preferred, such as minimally invasive surgery and contactless manipulation of biological fluids.

The majority of soft robotics designs incorporate models of people or animals. The SFMR, on the other hand, is fashioned after the design of micro-fluidic channels, which are employed in medicine to show blood cell counts or deliver medication to certain regions of the body.

The delivery of medications to particular cells and organs by the ferrofluid could have a significant impact on the field of medicine, according to the researchers. A syringe can be used to inject the robot into the body. Once inside, it can deliver the medications where they are needed, in the right target cells.

It presently outperforms conventional pharmaceuticals, which are injected into the bloodstream, in terms of flexibility and the ability to administer medications in particular areas. The SMFRs may easily fit through the body's teeny openings due to their flexibility and softness. The medications are delivered to particular target cells by the SMFRs, which can stay in the body for however long is required.

The body can absorb the medication droplets after they have been administered before the subsequent dose. This contrasts with conventional medications, which can linger in the bloodstream for as long as a week. According to the researchers, the SMFR can deliver medications to the bloodstream 100 times faster than the body's cells can.

The capacity to split a drug-carrying robot inside of a patient, possibly in the gastrointestinal tract, so that each tiny robotic droplet might deliver medication to a specific spot, according to Pietro Valdastri of the University of Leeds in the UK, maybe a "game changer." Another application, according to Bradley Nelson of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, could be to remove blood clots that cause strokes in the brain, though he notes that it would be difficult to create a magnetic field powerful enough to move the robot precisely inside the brain.