Design and Control of a Magnetically-Actuated Anti-Interference Microrobot for Targeted Therapeutic Delivery

Abstract

This letter proposes an anti-interference targeted therapeutic delivery microrobot, where the targeted therapeutic delivery to the lesion site in human intestine can be operated by the external magnetic field. The robot is composed of a shell and a targeted delivery mechanism. Under the actuation of the external magnetic field, the spiral structure on the outer surface of the shell can actively moves the robot back and forth in human intestine. The internal embedded targeted delivery mechanism is fixed with a radial magnetized O-type permanent magnet. It not only realizes flexible movement in the fluid environment, but also realizes the intestinal anchoring and targeted therapeutic delivery functions against the constant peristalsis of human intestine. The proposed robot is designed to finish the drug treatment concentration and treatment effect precisely in the lesion site against the intestinal peristalsis. A series of simulations and experiments are conducted to evaluate the feasibility of the developed robot. In experiments, the robot is used to release drugs after anchoring in the lesion site. Finally, ex vivo experiments are carried out on fresh porcine intestines.