Kavli Affiliate: Felix Fischer
| First 5 Authors: Moonkwang Jeon, Xiangzhou Tan, Felix Fischer, Tian Qiu,
| Summary:
Small-scale robots offer significant potential in minimally-invasive medical
procedures. Due to the nature of soft biological tissues, however, robots are
exposed to complex environments with various challenges in locomotion, which is
essential to overcome for useful medical tasks. A single mini-robot often
provides insufficient force on slippery biological surfaces to carry medical
instruments, such as a fluid catheter or an electrical wire. Here, for the
first time, we report a team of millirobots (TrainBot) that can generate around
two times higher actuating force than a TrainBot unit by forming a convoy to
collaboratively carry long and heavy cargos. The feet of each unit are
optimized to increase the propulsive force around three times so that it can
effectively crawl on slippery biological surfaces. A human-scale permanent
magnetic set-up is developed to wirelessly actuate and control the TrainBot to
transport heavy and lengthy loads through narrow biological lumens, such as the
intestine and the bile duct. We demonstrate the first electrocauterization
performed by the TrainBot to relieve a biliary obstruction and open a tunnel
for fluid drainage and drug delivery. The developed technology sheds light on
the collaborative strategy of small-scale robots for future minimally-invasive
surgical procedures.
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