Fabricated with a gel side for carrying drugs and a magnetic side for steering, researchers have developed microrobots that can navigate complex biological environments like intestines. The microrobots, formed in droplets, could enable precision-targeted drug delivery, improving on I.V. drug delivery that sends only 0.7 percent of the drug to the target tissue.
An experiment mimicking a treatment for inflammatory bowel disease, performed in a pig intestine and supported by simulations, demonstrated how the microrobots can be delivered by catheter and directed to a target site with a magnetic field. The microrobots are two-sided particles that are composed of a gel that can carry medicines and magnets that enable their control.
In the intestine experiment, when the gel dissolved, it delivered a dye that the team detected to ensure that the chemical cargo arrived at its target site. They also tested delayed release, with some gels dissolving over longer periods of time. After delivery, the magnetic particles were directed back to the catheter and retrieved.
The team also tested a minimally invasive surgery use case with a model of a human knee. The microrobots were released at an easily accessible area, then maneuvered to a difficult-to-reach target site to dispense a dye before navigating back to the entry site for extraction.
As a next step, the research team is designing new microrobots that can better navigate intricate environments. They will test different particles in emulsions to understand how they attract each other and study how larger particle swarms behave under varying magnetic fields.
