Soft Ring-Shaped Cellu-Robots with Simultaneous Locomotion in Batches.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Robotics
• Cellular Biology

Background:

• Untethered mini-robots offer potential for cell manipulation in confined spaces, aiding regenerative medicine and biosensing.
• Simultaneously controlling multiple microrobots for coordinated tasks remains a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel locomotion strategy for simultaneous control of multiple cellu-robots using a common acoustic stimulus.
• To enable distributed operations and the formation of complex constructs by multiple microrobots.

Main Methods:

• A scaffold-free cellu-robot design composed solely of packed cells was utilized.
• Acoustic stimuli were employed to guide the formation and locomotion of multiple cellu-robots.
• The ring shape of the cellu-robots was engineered to promote anisotropic cellular interactions and radial orientation.

Main Results:

• The developed strategy successfully guided multiple cellu-robots simultaneously in response to a single acoustic stimulus.
• Cellu-robots formed predetermined complex structures, including bracelet-like ring-chains.
• These structures transformed into new, unified living entities via cell-cell interactions and migration.

Conclusions:

• The study presents a viable method for the coordinated control of multiple cellu-robots.
• This approach overcomes limitations in simultaneous microrobot operation for complex assembly tasks.
• The findings pave the way for advanced applications in tissue engineering and biofabrication.