Bio-inspired Acousto-magnetic Microswarm Robots with Upstream Motility

Area of Science:

• Biocompatible microswimmers
• Microfluidics
• Biomedical engineering

Background:

• Targeted therapeutics and non-invasive surgery require precise control of microparticles.
• Existing technologies lack biocompatible solutions for upstream navigation in fluid flows.
• Natural microswimmers use boundary conditions for propulsion.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and characterize self-assembled microswarms for upstream motility.
• To investigate the use of combined acoustic and magnetic fields for microswarm actuation.
• To develop a strategy for navigating microparticles against background fluid flow.

Main Methods:

• Design and fabrication of self-assembled microswarms.
• Application of combined external acoustic and magnetic fields.
• Modeling and experimental validation of microswarm rolling motion.

Main Results:

• Microswarms demonstrated upstream motility using combined acoustic and magnetic fields.
• Quantitative agreement was found between experimental data and the rolling motion model.
• The combined field approach overcomes limitations of single-actuation methods.

Conclusions:

• The developed microswarms offer a biocompatible solution for upstream navigation.
• This technology enables a design strategy for targeted drug delivery to specific sites.
• Represents a fundamental step towards micro- and nanosystem navigation against blood flow.