University of Hawaii at Mānoa engineers have designed special microscopic robots called Janus particles, which can detect and navigate toward chemical signals.
In their work, published in Soft Matter, the team demonstrates the particles ability to “swim” toward a chemical releasing patch, ultimately hovering there and holding their position directly above it. When combined with drug-carrying particles, this swimming ability could locate and hover over damaged tissue and deliver medication to a precise location.
"This research brings us closer to having 'smart' microscopic devices that can deliver medicine exactly where it's needed in the body, much like having a tiny, precise delivery service at the cellular level," said UH Mānoa Department of Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. student Viviana Mancuso. "Instead of flooding the whole body with medication, which can cause side effects, these microscopic robots could 'swim' directly to the problem area—whether it's an infection, tumor or injury—and deliver treatment right at that spot."
With additional applications outside of the medical sector, the development represents a significant step forward in creating microscopic devices with can autonomously perform targeted tasks in the medical and industrial sectors.