Multichamber magnetic capsule robot for selective liquid sampling and drug delivery

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Gastroenterology
• Robotics

Background:

• Current ingestible capsule robots face limitations in performing both diagnosis and treatment due to manufacturing simplicity versus functional enhancement conflicts.
• Minimally invasive diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases require advanced capsule robot capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a multichamber magnetic capsule robot (macabot) capable of selective liquid sampling and drug delivery.
• To enable targeted interventions and diagnostics via a single oral intake.

Main Methods:

• An engineered multichamber magnetic capsule robot (macabot) with four individual chambers was designed.
• Selective chamber opening was achieved using a gradient magnetic field, decoupled from rolling locomotion driven by a rotating magnetic field.
• The macabot could be split into single-chamber modules for navigation in narrow intestine tracts.

Main Results:

• The macabot demonstrated capabilities for targeted delivery, sealing, active navigation, and liquid sampling/release.
• Successful in situ generation of a shape-adaptive hydrogel patch for targeted local deployment was validated.
• Ex vivo liquid sampling and release were successfully performed under ultrasound imaging guidance.

Conclusions:

• The multichamber magnetic capsule robot (macabot) presents a significant advancement in ingestible robotics for gastrointestinal applications.
• This technology overcomes previous limitations, offering combined diagnostic and therapeutic functions through a single, minimally invasive device.