Nanofiber-based biodegradable millirobot with controllable anchoring and adaptive stepwise release functions

Tan, Rong; Yang, Xiong; Lu, Haojian; Yang, Liu; Zhang, Tieshan; Miao, Jiaqi; Feng, Yu; Shen, Yajing

doi:10.1016/j.matt.2022.01.023

Cited by 28 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Further, we elucidate how underlying proceeding/pinning mechanisms form various liquid‐responsive behaviors and verify that the ASFS can be used as a controllable fluidic reactor or a portable liquid discriminator. This study enriches the research of functional operation surfaces, [ 38–41 ] and achieves better application‐oriented liquid control based on the intrinsic properties of liquids. [ 42,43 ]…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Asymmetric Soft‐Structure Functional Surface for Intelligent Liquids’ Distinction, Transportation, and Reaction Mixer

Sun

Miao

Tan

et al. 2022

Adv Funct Materials

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Structured surfaces have attracted wide attention because of their great potential in directional transport, liquid collection or separation, microfluidics, etc. However, it remains a big challenge to design a surface that can distinguish various liquids, utilize their inherent properties to control their transportation, and realize functional applications. Herein, it is presented an asymmetric soft-structure functional surface (ASFS) with arrayed curvature units that can make the Laplace pressure as a driving force to determine the preferential spreading direction and show abundant transport behaviors for liquids with different surface tensions. With good deformability, the proposed ASFS can directionally transport liquids along complex terrains, e.g., 1D-tilted, 2D-curved, and 3D-helical trajectories. It is also demonstrated that the ASFS can achieve synchronous or asynchronous liquid mixing by choosing appropriate liquids. Moreover, the intelligent response ability allows the ASFS to be a portable contact angle discriminator. This study proposes a new strategy to manipulate liquids via their intrinsic properties and opens new avenues for application-oriented liquid operation surfaces.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Asymmetric Soft‐Structure Functional Surface for Intelligent Liquids’ Distinction, Transportation, and Reaction Mixer

Sun

Miao

Tan

et al. 2022

Adv Funct Materials

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“…Since many soft miniature robots are expected to work in hard-to-reach areas, e.g., gastrointestinal tract in the body, their ability to navigate and locomote in such harsh environments are prerequisites to realize their potential applications. To date, it has been reported that they can be actuated through a variety of strategies, such as electric, optical, chemical, and magnetic methods, − to achieve various degrees of freedom. Magnetic actuation among them is a preferred option and widely applied considering its good controllability, rapid responsiveness, and safety.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soft Tunable Gelatin Robot with Insect-like Claw for Grasping, Transportation, and Delivery

Yang

Miao

et al. 2022

ACS Appl. Polym. Mater.

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Recently, insect-scale soft robots have received increasing attentions for diverse applications owing to their ability to access hard-to-reach areas. However, most of them are composed of non-degradable materials like PDMS and silicone rubbers, and such chemical inertness may become an obstacle for future clinical applications where tunable material properties or degradation abilities are required. Here, we present a small-scale soft robot from a magnetic gelatin hydrogel, whose mechanical properties can be easily tuned through one-step Hofmeister effected-assisted reaction. Moreover, the robot is designed with insect claw-like legged structure, allowing it to perform grasping and cargo transportation tasks as its non-degradable counterparts. The degradation and controlled delivery ability of the robot are also demonstrated to show the advantages of magnetic hydrogels over non-degradable polymers. Our study provides an alternative for the tunable and degradable millirobot construction with an effective manipulation ability and promotes the applications of millirobot in biomedical sceneries.

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“…21,22 Among them, robots actuated by the magnetic field show superior performance in active targeted delivery owing to the advantages of this actuation strategy such as strong penetration, remote control, and advanced biological compatibility. 23,24 Recent progress in applying SSRs in active drug delivery is mainly focused on the development of fabrication techniques, materials, and motion control of robots. 25 Diverse manufacturing methods, such as 3D laser lithography, template-assisted deposition, or selfassembly, have been exploited to rationally design the shape and functionality of SSRs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Over the past decades, small-scale swimming robots (SSRs) with dimensions ranging from nanometer to millimeter have proven to be promising drug carriers due to their ability of active movement. − Besides, the applications of SSRs can be extended to clinical diagnosis, cell manipulation, environmental remediation, and minimally invasive surgery. − These robots can be classified by the actuation methods, such as light-actuated, acoustic-actuated, fuel-actuated, , or magnetically actuated methods. , Among them, robots actuated by the magnetic field show superior performance in active targeted delivery owing to the advantages of this actuation strategy such as strong penetration, remote control, and advanced biological compatibility. , Recent progress in applying SSRs in active drug delivery is mainly focused on the development of fabrication techniques, materials, and motion control of robots . Diverse manufacturing methods, such as 3D laser lithography, template-assisted deposition, or self-assembly, have been exploited to rationally design the shape and functionality of SSRs. − Micro-/nanorobots of various shapes, including spherical, helical, wire-like, and peanut-shaped, have been proposed and proven to be effective drug carriers through in vivo or in vitro experiments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiscale Magnetic Hydrogel Robot with a Core–Shell Structure for Active Targeted Delivery

Chen

Zhang

Tian

et al. 2022

ACS Appl. Polym. Mater.

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Tremendous progress in applying small-scale magnetic robots for targeted drug delivery has sparked a growing interest among researchers. However, significant effort is needed to design and fabricate robots to meet the needs of clinical treatments, such as biocompatibility, biodegradation, and synergistic therapy. Here, we propose a multiscale magnetic hydrogel robot (MMHR) with a core–shell structure in which superparamagnetic nanoparticles and curcumin-loaded chitosan microparticles (CCMs) are encapsulated inside the core, while doxorubicin-loaded chitosan microparticles (DCMs) are embedded inside the shell. The core and shell of the MMHR are composed of pH-sensitive calcium alginate hydrogels that can alleviate the sudden release of drugs from CCMs and DCMs in gastric fluid. MMHRs can be precisely actuated to the target region through magnetic driving systems for further drug delivery. The experimental results demonstrate that the MMHR possesses superior obstacle-crossing ability and can successfully locomote on the surface of the intestine. Additionally, the co-delivery of doxorubicin and curcumin is realized through the different fabrication methods of CCMs and DCMs and shows excellent synergistic therapeutic effects against colon cancer cells. The powerful propulsion, good biocompatibility, and remarkable synergistic efficacy of the MMHR offer a promising route for active drug delivery through the gastrointestinal tract.

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Nanofiber-based biodegradable millirobot with controllable anchoring and adaptive stepwise release functions

Cited by 28 publications

References 31 publications

Asymmetric Soft‐Structure Functional Surface for Intelligent Liquids’ Distinction, Transportation, and Reaction Mixer

Asymmetric Soft‐Structure Functional Surface for Intelligent Liquids’ Distinction, Transportation, and Reaction Mixer

Soft Tunable Gelatin Robot with Insect-like Claw for Grasping, Transportation, and Delivery

Multiscale Magnetic Hydrogel Robot with a Core–Shell Structure for Active Targeted Delivery

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