Mighty microsized robots for biomedical applications

Imagine tiny robots, smaller than grains of rice, manoeuvring inside the human body to deliver medicines precisely to where they are needed. We are making this futuristic scenario a reality through our research in soft robotics.

Controlled remotely by magnetic fields, our miniature robots are uniquely capable of moving in tight, inaccessible spaces within the body. Magnetic fields safely and effectively penetrate human tissues, enabling precise control of the robots without causing harm. This makes our robots especially promising for medical applications like minimally invasive surgery and targeted drug delivery.

Small robots are usually limited in their manoeuvrability and movement, which hampers their usefulness in medical and other precision applications. To overcome these challenges, we developed a novel method to magnetise the robots, enabling them to achieve the full range of motion. Our robots can move forward and backward, left and right, as well as up and down. They can also rotate freely around all three spatial dimensions – pitch, roll and yaw.

Our novel method has enabled us to devise different types of robots with various capabilities. We created a robot that swims like a jellyfish through intricate obstacles that were previously impassable for similar devices.

In this series of photos, a jellyfish robot rotates and swims through a rectangular opening in a barrier. Credit: NTU. 

We also developed a highly efficient robotic gripper that can perform small-scale assembly tasks up to 20 times faster than other miniature robots.

Another robot that we developed can jump through narrow slits to reach higher ground as well as roll, crawl and swim through tight openings. Such robots have potential applications in minimally invasive surgery, such as to clear clogged arteries.

Dexterous drug delivery