Drexel University researchers, led by MinJun Kim, PhD, a professor in the College of Engineering, have successfully pulled off a feat that both sci-fi fans and Michael Phelps could appreciate. Using a rotating magnetic field they show how multiple chains of microscopic magnetic bead-based robots can link up to reach impressive speeds swimming through a liquid. Their finding is the latest step toward using the so-called “microswimmers” to deliver medicine and perform surgery inside the body.
In a paper recently published in Nature Scientific Reports, the mechanical engineers describe their process for magnetically linking and unlinking the beads while they’re swimming, and individually controlling the smaller decoupled robots in a magnetic field. This data helps further the concept of using microrobots for targeted, intravenous drug delivery, surgery and cancer treatment.
