Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research ›› 2025, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (10): 2097-2104.doi: 10.12307/2025.408

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Field-driven medical micro-robots: application prospect of continuously optimizing material preparation process

Xiao Wenqian1, Han Hongjuan1, Yang Haocheng1, Li Bo1, He Binyan2   

  1. 1Chongqing Engineering Laboratory of Nano/Micro Biomedical Detection Technology, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing 401331, China; 2Operating Room, Mianyang Cancer Hospital, Mianyang 621000, Sichuan Province, China
  • Received:2024-01-19 Accepted:2024-03-09 Online:2025-04-08 Published:2024-08-22
  • Contact: Li Bo, Professor, Chongqing Engineering Laboratory of Nano/Micro Biomedical Detection Technology, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing 401331, China Corresponding author: He Binyan, Associate chief nurse, Operating Room, Mianyang Cancer Hospital, Mianyang 621000, Sichuan Province, China
  • About author:Xiao Wenqian, PhD, Associate professor, Chongqing Engineering Laboratory of Nano/Micro Biomedical Detection Technology, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing 401331, China
  • Supported by:
    Chongqing Natural Science Foundation (General Project), No. cstc2021jcyj-msxmX0360 (to LB); Chongqing Natural Science Foundation (General Project), No. cstc2021jcyj-msxmX0707 (to XWQ); Science and Technology Project of Chongqing Municipal Education Commission, No. KJZD-K202301503 (to LB); Science and Technology Project of Chongqing Municipal Education Commission, No. KJQN202101534 (to XWQ); 2023-2024 Higher Education Science Research Project of Chongqing Higher Education Association, No. cqgj23114C (to LB) 

Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Micro-robots have the characteristics of small size, flexibility, and strong targeting, and can complete complex tasks in a single or clustered manner in a narrow environment. With the continuous optimization of materials, preparation processes, and driving approaches, they have shown increasingly important application value in the field of biomedicine.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the application of field-driven micro-robots in medical field and to look forward to their application prospect.

METHODS: Using “microrobots, nanorobots, drivers, biomedical, medical” as Chinese keywords and “microrobots, micro-robots, nanorobots, micromachine, microswimmer, medical” as English keywords, WanFang Data and PubMed databases were searched, respectively. The search time range was from January 2010 to January 2024, and a small number of long-term articles were included. Through reading the titles and preliminarily screening the abstracts, the repetitive studies, low-quality journals, and irrelevant literature were excluded. After reading the entire text, 66 papers were finally included for review.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Field-driven medical micro-robots mainly include magnetic, optical, thermal, ultrasonic, and multi-mixed factor-driven robots. Field-driven robots have been used in intestinal diagnosis, drug targeting therapy, and stem cell therapy. Medical micro-robots are currently only used in a small number of clinical applications, but most of which are still in the theoretical and experimental stages. Medical micro-robots will face many challenges in future, such as large-scale preparation, precise control of micro-robots, recycling or degradation in vivo, whether the materials used will cause adverse reactions to the human body, and the related minimally invasive medical procedures.

Key words: micro-robots, field driven, medical care, targeting, minimally invasive, research progress

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