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Wrede P, Degtyaruk O, Kalva SK, Deán-Ben XL, Bozuyuk U, Aghakhani A, Akolpoglu B, Sitti M, Razansky D. Real-time 3D optoacoustic tracking of cell-sized magnetic microrobots circulating in the mouse brain vasculature. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabm9132. [PMID: 35544570 PMCID: PMC9094653 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abm9132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 03/25/2022] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Mobile microrobots hold remarkable potential to revolutionize health care by enabling unprecedented active medical interventions and theranostics, such as active cargo delivery and microsurgical manipulations in hard-to-reach body sites. High-resolution imaging and control of cell-sized microrobots in the in vivo vascular system remains an unsolved challenge toward their clinical use. To overcome this limitation, we propose noninvasive real-time detection and tracking of circulating microrobots using optoacoustic imaging. We devised cell-sized nickel-based spherical Janus magnetic microrobots whose near-infrared optoacoustic signature is enhanced via gold conjugation. The 5-, 10-, and 20-μm-diameter microrobots are detected volumetrically both in bloodless ex vivo tissues and under real-life conditions with a strongly light-absorbing blood background. We further demonstrate real-time three-dimensional tracking and magnetic manipulation of the microrobots circulating in murine cerebral vasculature, thus paving the way toward effective and safe operation of cell-sized microrobots in challenging and clinically relevant intravascular environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul Wrede
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
- Physical Intelligence Department, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Oleksiy Degtyaruk
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Sandeep Kumar Kalva
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Xosé Luis Deán-Ben
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Ugur Bozuyuk
- Physical Intelligence Department, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Amirreza Aghakhani
- Physical Intelligence Department, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Birgul Akolpoglu
- Physical Intelligence Department, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Metin Sitti
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
- Physical Intelligence Department, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
- School of Medicine and College of Engineering, Koç University, Istanbul 34450, Turkey
| | - Daniel Razansky
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
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Abstract
Micro- and nano-motors are emerging as novel drug delivery platforms, offering advantages such as rapid drug transport, high tissue penetration and motion controllability. They can be propelled and/or guided by endogenous (i.e., chemotaxis) or exogenous stimuli (e.g., ultrasound, magnetic fields, light) toward the area of interest. Moreover, such stimuli can be used to trigger the release of a therapeutic payload when the motor reaches certain location in order to improve the drug targeting. In this review article, we highlight medically oriented micro-/nano-motors, in particular the ones created for targeted drug delivery, and discuss their current limitations and possibilities toward in vivo applications.
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