Propulsion of swimming microrobots inspired by<i>metachronal waves</i>in ciliates: from biology to material specifications

Palagi, Stefano; Jager, Edwin; Mazzolai, Barbara; Beccai, Lucia

doi:10.1088/1748-3182/8/4/046004

Cited by 37 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 53 publications

(91 reference statements)

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“…Coordinated motion is crucial for the effective functioning of cilia and flagella, the elements of eukaryotic cells implicated in generating fluid flows and motility (10,14,40), and may be exploited in artificial conditions (3,67,115,130) and low Reynolds number (Re) swimmers (83,102,108). Motile flagella and cilia interact through the velocity field in a low Re regime (63,81,99).…”

Section: Cilia Coordination: Biological and Physical Viewsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Realizing the Physics of Motile Cilia Synchronization with Driven Colloids

Bruot

Cicuta

2016

Annu. Rev. Condens. Matter Phys.

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Cilia and flagella in biological systems often show large scale cooperative behaviors such as the synchronization of their beats in "metachronal waves". These are beautiful examples of emergent dynamics in biology, and are essential for life, allowing diverse processes from the motility of eukaryotic microorganisms, to nutrient transport and clearance of pathogens from mammalian airways. How these collective states arise is not fully understood, but it is clear that individual cilia interact mechanically, and that a strong and long ranged component of the coupling is mediated by the viscous fluid. We review here the work by ourselves and others aimed at understanding the behavior of hydrodynamically coupled systems, and particularly a set of results that have been obtained both experimentally and theoretically by studying actively driven colloidal systems. In these controlled scenarios, it is possible to selectively test aspects of the living motile cilia, such as the geometrical arrangement, the effects of the driving profile and the distance to no-slip boundaries. We outline and give examples of how it is possible to link model systems to observations on living systems, which can be made on microorganisms, on cell cultures or on tissue sections. This area of research has clear clinical application in the long term, as severe pathologies are associated with compromised cilia function in humans.

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Section: Cilia Coordination: Biological and Physical Viewsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Realizing the Physics of Motile Cilia Synchronization with Driven Colloids

Bruot

Cicuta

2016

Annu. Rev. Condens. Matter Phys.

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“…Biological organisms can be composed of complex fluids, viscoelastic solids or poroelastic media, and one could try to replace the viscous interior of our model accordingly. For the cyanobacteria Synechococcus (Ehlers & Oster 2012) and Myxococcus xanthus (Nan & Zusman 2011), it would also be worth while to consider more complicated surface motions, such as helical waves of both normal and tangential displacement (see also Palagi et al 2013). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A different motivation is provided by the robotic swimmer of Setter, Bucher & Haber (2012); see also Palagi et al (2013) and Setter & Bucher (2013, 2014. This device consists of a tube containing a motor driving wave-like normal surface displacements, and was designed as a cylindrical analogue of Taylor's sheet.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Slender axisymmetric Stokesian swimmers

Toppaladoddi¹,

Balmforth²

2014

J. Fluid Mech.

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Slender-body theory is used to study axisymmetric swimmers propelled by motions of their surfaces. To leading order, the locomotion speed is given by an integral involving the fluid velocity at the surface of the slender body. Locomotion speeds are calculated for fixed-shape swimmers with prescribed fluid surface velocities and for impermeable swimmers driven by propagating surface waves. Next, the internal mechanics is considered, modelling the swimmer as a viscous fluid bounded by an elastic shell. Prescribed forces are exerted on the shell to drive both the internal and external fluid flow and the surface waves. The internal fluid mechanics is determined using lubrication theory. Locomotion speeds are calculated for transverse and longitudinal waves of surface deformation, and the efficiency of the motions is determined. Transverse surface waves are both weaker and less efficient at driving locomotion than longitudinal waves. The results indicate how estimates of swimming speed based on nearly spherical swimmers with low-amplitude surface waves can be adapted for slender swimmers with nonlinear surface deformations.

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“…Ciliary propulsion shows potential for artificial microswimming [190][191][192][193][194]. Ghanbari et al proposed a magnetic actuation of artificial cilia using a pre-designed field and demonstrated a beating pattern of cilia, mimicking their natural counterparts [191].…”

Section: Micro-/nanorobot Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioinspired reorientation strategies for application in micro/nanorobotic control

Ghanbari

2020

J Micro-Bio Robot

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Engineers have recently been inspired by swimming methodologies of microorganisms in creating micro-/nanorobots for biomedical applications. Future medicine may be revolutionized by the application of these small machines in diagnosing, monitoring, and treating diseases. Studies over the past decade have often concentrated on propulsion generation. However, there are many other challenges to address before the practical use of robots at the micro-/nanoscale. The control and reorientation ability of such robots remain as some of these challenges. This paper reviews the strategies of swimming microorganisms for reorientation, including tumbling, reverse and flick, direction control of helical-path swimmers, by speed modulation, using complex flagella, and the help of mastigonemes. Then, inspired by direction change in microorganisms, methods for orientation control for microrobots and possible directions for future studies are discussed. Further, the effects of solid boundaries on the swimming trajectories of microorganisms and microrobots are examined. In addition to propulsion systems for artificial microswimmers, swimming microorganisms are promising sources of control methodologies at the micro-/nanoscale.

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Propulsion of swimming microrobots inspired bymetachronal wavesin ciliates: from biology to material specifications

Cited by 37 publications

References 53 publications

Realizing the Physics of Motile Cilia Synchronization with Driven Colloids

Realizing the Physics of Motile Cilia Synchronization with Driven Colloids

Slender axisymmetric Stokesian swimmers

Bioinspired reorientation strategies for application in micro/nanorobotic control

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