Magnetically Aligned Nanorods in Alginate Capsules (MANiACs): Soft Matter Tumbling Robots for Manipulation and Drug Delivery
Lamar O. Mair,
Sagar Chowdhury,
Genaro A. Paredes-Juarez,
Maria Guix,
Chenghao Bi,
Benjamin Johnson,
Bradley W. English,
Sahar Jafari,
James Baker-McKee,
Jamelle Watson-Daniels,
Olivia Hale,
Pavel Stepanov,
Danica Sun,
Zachary Baker,
Chad Ropp,
Shailesh B. Raval,
Dian R. Arifin,
Jeff W.M. Bulte,
Irving N. Weinberg,
Benjamin A. Evans,
David J. Cappelleri
Affiliations
Lamar O. Mair
Weinberg Medical Physics, Inc., North Bethesda, MD 20852, USA
Sagar Chowdhury
Weinberg Medical Physics, Inc., North Bethesda, MD 20852, USA
Genaro A. Paredes-Juarez
Russel H. Morgan Department of Radiology, Division of Magnetic Resonance Research, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Maria Guix
Multi-Scale Robotics and Automation Lab, School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
Chenghao Bi
Multi-Scale Robotics and Automation Lab, School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
Benjamin Johnson
Multi-Scale Robotics and Automation Lab, School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
Bradley W. English
Weinberg Medical Physics, Inc., North Bethesda, MD 20852, USA
Sahar Jafari
Weinberg Medical Physics, Inc., North Bethesda, MD 20852, USA
James Baker-McKee
Weinberg Medical Physics, Inc., North Bethesda, MD 20852, USA
Jamelle Watson-Daniels
Weinberg Medical Physics, Inc., North Bethesda, MD 20852, USA
Olivia Hale
Weinberg Medical Physics, Inc., North Bethesda, MD 20852, USA
Pavel Stepanov
Weinberg Medical Physics, Inc., North Bethesda, MD 20852, USA
Danica Sun
Weinberg Medical Physics, Inc., North Bethesda, MD 20852, USA
Zachary Baker
Weinberg Medical Physics, Inc., North Bethesda, MD 20852, USA
Chad Ropp
Weinberg Medical Physics, Inc., North Bethesda, MD 20852, USA
Shailesh B. Raval
Weinberg Medical Physics, Inc., North Bethesda, MD 20852, USA
Dian R. Arifin
Russel H. Morgan Department of Radiology, Division of Magnetic Resonance Research, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Jeff W.M. Bulte
Russel H. Morgan Department of Radiology, Division of Magnetic Resonance Research, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Irving N. Weinberg
Weinberg Medical Physics, Inc., North Bethesda, MD 20852, USA
Benjamin A. Evans
Department of Physics, Elon University, Elon, NC 27244, USA
David J. Cappelleri
Multi-Scale Robotics and Automation Lab, School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
Soft, untethered microrobots composed of biocompatible materials for completing micromanipulation and drug delivery tasks in lab-on-a-chip and medical scenarios are currently being developed. Alginate holds significant potential in medical microrobotics due to its biocompatibility, biodegradability, and drug encapsulation capabilities. Here, we describe the synthesis of MANiACs—Magnetically Aligned Nanorods in Alginate Capsules—for use as untethered microrobotic surface tumblers, demonstrating magnetically guided lateral tumbling via rotating magnetic fields. MANiAC translation is demonstrated on tissue surfaces as well as inclined slopes. These alginate microrobots are capable of manipulating objects over millimeter-scale distances. Finally, we demonstrate payload release capabilities of MANiACs during translational tumbling motion.
