In this paper, we present a control strategy using real-time feedback combined with feasible path planning to manipulate a type of microorganism, Tetrahymena pyriformis (T. pyriformis), as a micro-bio-robot using artificial magnetotaxis. Artificially magnetotactic T. pyriformis cells were created by the internalization of iron oxide nano particles. Following the magnetization of the internalized particles, the cells become controllable using an external time-varying magnetic field. The behavior of artificially magnetotactic T. pyriformis under a magnetic field has been investigated in a manual control experiment. A feasible path planner called rapidly-exploring random tree (RRT) and a feedback control scheme are implemented to guide the cell to a desired position and orientation. Since the motion of T. pyriformis is nonlinear like that of a car, combining the RRT and feedback control allows the cell to be controlled in 3-dimensional (x, y, θ ) space. In the results, real-time feedback control of T. pyriformis in 3-dimensional space demonstrated the potential of utilizing T. pyriformis as a micro-bio-robot for microscale tasks.
Artificial magnetotactic Tetrahymena pyriformis GL (T. pyriformis) cells were created by the internalization of iron oxide nano particles and became controllable with a time-varying external magnetic field. Thus, T. pyriformis can be utilized as a cellular robot to conduct micro-scale tasks such as transportation and manipulation. To complete these tasks, loading inorganic or organic materials onto the cell body is essential, but functionalization of the cell membrane is obstructed by their motile organelles, cilia. Dibucaine HCl, a local anesthetic, removes the cilia from the cell body, and the functional group would be absorbed more efficiently during cilia regeneration. In this paper, we characterize the recovery of artificial magnetotactic T. pyriformis after the deciliation process to optimize a cellular robot fabrication process. After sufficient time to recover, the motility rate and the average velocity of the deciliated cells were six and ten percent lower than that of non-deciliated cells, respectively. We showed that the motile cells after recovery can still be controlled using magnetotaxis, making T. pyriformis a good candidate to be used as a cellular robot.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.