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Science Advances (in-press, *equal contribution)

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abi8932

■ Researchers

Donghoon Son, Musab Cagri Ugurlu and Metin Sitti 

School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University,

■ Abstract

Creating wireless milliscale robots that navigate inside soft tissues of the human body for medical applications has been a challenge because of the limited onboard propulsion and powering capacity at small scale. Here, we propose around 100 permanent magnet array–based remotely propelled millirobot system that enables a cylindrical magnetic millirobot to navigate in soft tissues via continuous penetration. By creating a strong magnetic force trap with magnetic gradients on the order of 7 T/m inside a soft tissue, the robot is attracted to the center of the array even without active control. By combining the array with a motion stage and a fluoroscopic x-ray imaging system, the magnetic robot followed complex paths in an ex vivo porcine brain with extreme curvatures in sub-millimeter precision. This system enables future wireless medical millirobots that can deliver drugs; perform biopsy, hyperthermia, and cauterization; and stimulate neurons with small incisions in body tissues.

• Medical Robots
• Magnetic Robots
• Soft Robots
• Microrobots
• Robot Design

• 소형 의료 로봇과 소프트 시스템