Locomotion methods of microrobots and targeted drug delivery

Abstract

Many of the drugs used in the treatment of diseases, such as cancer, spread throughout the body, causing tissue and healthy cell loss. Patients taking these medications may experience serious side effects. To overcome these problems, scientists have developed many types of microrobots and operating principles which can release drugs manageably and locally and can be remotely controlled with external sources. In this review, four different movement types that we selected from the movement mechanisms of microrobots are examined in detail. These motion types are magnetic motion, acoustic motion, microorganism-based motion, and chemical reaction-based motion, respectively. In this review, we discuss how each movement mechanism works and what kind of experimental studies it has today. In addition, the shortcomings of these movement mechanisms and the aspects that need to be improved are mentioned. In general, this review sheds light into how microrobots facilitate human health with targeted drug delivery technology and forthcoming biomedical studies.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.