Robot-assisted chirality-tunable acoustic vortex tweezers for contactless, multifunctional, 4-DOF object manipulation

Area of Science:

• Acoustic manipulation
• Robotics
• Biomedical engineering

Background:

• Current robotic platforms struggle with contactless, high-resolution manipulation of small objects, especially through biological barriers.
• Noninvasive maneuvering of micro- to millimeter-sized objects is challenging in shielded environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop chirality-tunable acoustic vortex tweezers for contactless manipulation.
• To enable noninvasive maneuvering of objects through biological barriers.
• To integrate acoustic manipulation with robotic systems for enhanced control and imaging.

Main Methods:

• Development of acoustic vortex tweezers with tunable chirality.
• Integration with programmable robotic systems for 4-degrees-of-freedom (4-DOF) translation.
• Demonstration of object trapping, rotation, and translation through biological barriers and in complex channels.
• Utilizing ultrasound imaging for real-time monitoring of acoustic manipulation.

Main Results:

• Successful tuning of acoustic vortex chirality and control of object rotation.
• Contactless, high-resolution translation of single objects along arbitrary paths.
• Demonstrated trapping and manipulation of objects within tissue and skull barriers.
• Translation of an object within a biomimetic phantom's Y-shaped channel.
• Real-time monitoring of manipulation via live ultrasound imaging.

Conclusions:

• Chirality-tunable acoustic vortex tweezers offer a powerful solution for contactless manipulation of small objects.
• The system overcomes limitations of traditional robotics in noninvasive maneuvering through biological barriers.
• Integration with robotics and ultrasound imaging enhances precision, control, and applicability in research and medicine.