Bacteria-Inspired Magnetic Polymer Composite Microrobots (original) (raw)

A Review on the Motion of Magnetically Actuated Bio-Inspired Microrobots

Applied Sciences

Nature consists of numerous solutions to overcome challenges in designing artificial systems. Various actuation mechanisms have been implemented in microrobots to mimic the motion of microorganisms. Such bio-inspired designs have contributed immensely to microscale developments. Among the actuation mechanisms, magnetic actuation is widely used in bio-inspired microrobotic systems and related propulsion mechanisms used by microrobots to navigate inside a magnetic field and are presented in this review. In addition, the considered robots are in microscale, and they can swim inside a fluidic environment with a low Reynolds number. In relation to microrobotics, mimicry of bacteria flagella, sperm flagella, cilia, and fish are significant. Due to the fact that these biological matters consist of different propulsion mechanisms, the effect of various parameters was investigated in the last decade and the review presents a summary that enhances understanding of the working principle of pro...

Magnetic Helical Micro- and Nanorobots: Toward Their Biomedical Applications

Engineering, 2015

Magnetic helical micro-and nanorobots can perfo rm 3D navigation in various liquids with a sub-micrometer precision under low-strength rotating magnetic fields (< 10 mT). Since magnetic fields with low strengths are harmless to cells and tissues, magnetic helical micro/nanorobots are promising tools for biomedical applications, such as minimally invasive surgery, cell manipulation and analysis, and targeted therapy. This review provides general information on magnetic helical micro/nanorobots, including their fabrication, motion control, and further functionalization for biomedical applications. KEYWORDS magnetic helical micro/nanorobots, mobile micro/ nanorobots, artificial bacterial flagella (ABFs), functionalization, biomedical applications

Recent developments in magnetically driven micro- and nanorobots

Applied Materials Today

Micro-and nanorobots are promising devices for biomedical and environmental applications. The past few years have witnessed rapid developments in this field. This short review intends to address recent progress on magnetically driven micro-and nanorobots developed in our laboratory and by other research groups. Different designs such as helical swimmers, flexible swimmers, surface walkers, and others are categorized and discussed. Specific applications of these robots in the fields of biomedicine or environmental remediation are also reported. Finally, the use of magnetic fields for additional capabilities beyond manipulation is presented.

Fabrication and magnetic control of bacteria-inspired robotic microswimmers

Applied Physics Letters, 2010

A biomimetic, microscale system using the mechanics of swimming bacteria has been fabricated and controlled in a low Reynolds number fluidic environment. The microswimmer consists of a polystyrene microbead conjugated to a magnetic nanoparticle via a flagellar filament using avidin-biotin linkages. The flagellar filaments were isolated from the bacterium, Salmonella typhimurium. Propulsion energy was supplied by an external rotating magnetic field designed in an approximate Helmholtz configuration. Further, the finite element analysis software, COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS, was used to develop a simulation of the robotic devices within the magnetic controller. The robotic microswimmers exhibited flagellar propulsion in two-dimensional magnetic fields, which demonstrate controllability of the biomimetically designed devices for future biomedical applications.

Polymer Based Magnetic Microrobots - Design, Fabrication, and Applications

2014

We propose two di erent types of wireless magnetic microrobots the PolyMite and the RodBot for the purpose of micro-manipulation. A microfabrication platform has been developed to produce both devices. The process combines non-magnetic polymer and soft-magnetic metal in a device without a adhesion problem between the two materials. The devices fabricated by the process are potentially safe to use in biomedical applications. The PolyMite pushes objects by direct physical contact. Transportation of micro polystyrene beads and micro glass beads in water to a prede ned location is demonstrated. The force the PolyMite applies on a sphere in water is on the order of a few tenths to a few nanonewtons, depending on the size of manipulated objects. The RodBot manipulates objects by ows it generates. The ows and the vortex generated by the RodBot are ideal for non-contact trapping of objects in a size range from a few microns up to a millimeter. The uid force acting on micro-objects is on the...

Artificial bacterial flagella: Fabrication and magnetic control

Applied Physics Letters, 2009

Inspired by the natural design of bacterial flagella, we report artificial bacterial flagella ͑ABF͒ that have a comparable shape and size to their organic counterparts and can swim in a controllable fashion using weak applied magnetic fields. The helical swimmer consists of a helical tail resembling the dimensions of a natural flagellum and a thin soft-magnetic "head" on one end. The swimming locomotion of ABF is precisely controlled by three orthogonal electromagnetic coil pairs. Microsphere manipulation is performed, and the thrust force generated by an ABF is analyzed. ABF swimmers represent the first demonstration of microscopic artificial swimmers that use helical propulsion. Self-propelled devices such as these are of interest in fundamental research and for biomedical applications.

Design and development of a soft magnetically-propelled swimming microrobot

2011

A novel approach for the design of magnetically-propelled microrobots is proposed as an effective solution for swimming in a liquid medium. While intrinsic neutral buoyancy of a microrobot per se simplifies propulsion in the liquid environments, softness makes it compliant with delicate environments, such as the human body, thus guaranteeing a safe interaction with soft structures. With this aim, two groups of soft microrobots with paramagnetic and ferromagnetic behaviors were designed, fabricated and their features were experimentally analyzed. In agreement with the theoretical predictions, in the performed trials the ferromagnetic microrobots showed orientation capabilities in response to the magnetic field that could not be achieved by the paramagnetic one. Moreover, it was observed that the ferromagnetic microrobot could reach higher speed values (maximum value of 0.73 body length/s) than the paramagnetic prototype.