Enhanced Flexible Mold Lifetime for Roll‐to‐Roll Scaled‐Up Manufacturing of Adhesive Complex Microstructures
Bioinspired Microstructured Adhesives with Facile and Fast Switchability for Part Manipulation in Dry and Wet Conditions
Smart Materials for manipulation and actuation of small-scale structures
3D nanofabrication of various materials for advanced multifunctional microrobots
Liquid Crystal Mesophase of Supercooled Liquid Gallium And Eutectic Gallium–Indium
Machine Learning-Based Pull-off and Shear Optimal Adhesive Microstructures
Information entropy to detect order in self-organizing systems
Individual and collective manipulation of multifunctional bimodal droplets in three dimensions
Microrobot collectives with reconfigurable morphologies and functions
Self-organization in heterogeneous and non-reciprocal regime
Biomimetic Emulsion Systems
Giant Unilamellar Vesicles for Designing Cell-like Microrobots
Bioinspired self-assembled colloidal collectives drifting in three dimensions underwater
Optoacoustic imaging of microrobots
Mobile microrobots have transformative potential in healthcare, enabling active medical interventions like targeted drug delivery and microsurgical tasks in hard-to-reach areas. However, achieving precise control and high-resolution imaging of cell-sized microrobots within the in-vivo vascular system remains a major barrier to clinical application. To address this, we propose using optoacoustic imaging for noninvasive, real-time detection and tracking of circulating microrobots.
In our work, we developed nickel-based spherical Janus microrobots, enhanced with gold conjugation to increase their near-infrared optoacoustic visibility. These cell-sized microrobots, available in diameters of 5, 10, and 20 micrometers, have been successfully detected in ex vivo tissue and in the blood-rich environment of murine cerebral vasculature. We demonstrated real-time 3D tracking and magnetic manipulation of the microrobots, setting the groundwork for safe, controlled use in clinically relevant intravascular environments [A].
This study also presents macrophage-based microrobots combining magnetic Janus particles with FePt nanofilms for actuation and bacterial lipopolysaccharides to stimulate tumor-targeting responses. These biohybrid microrobots, steered magnetically and tracked via optoacoustic imaging [B], show strong antitumor capabilities. In lab tests, they were directed toward tumor spheroids in soft-tissue-mimicking phantoms, significantly reducing tumor viability.
Additionally, we integrated a hybrid optoacoustic and focused ultrasound system to enable simultaneous imaging and actuation, achieving real-time 3D tracking and manipulation of particles within live mouse vasculature [C]. This approach validates the potential of combining imaging and actuation in a single platform for precise medical interventions, paving the way for diverse future applications in cancer treatment and minimally invasive surgery.
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