Target drug delivery technology (Carrying, releasing, penetrating) using acoustic bubbles embedded in an electromagnetically driven microrobot

This paper presents a novel target drug delivery technology using tandem acoustic bubbles with different volumes embedded in an electromagnetically driven microrobot. For the electromagnetic actuation of a microrobot swimming in arbitrarily shaped blood vessels, an electromagnetic system consisting of a pair of Helmholtz and Maxwell electric coils is fabricated. Using the developed electromagnetic system, the actuation of the microrobot made of a cylindrical neodymium magnet is successfully demonstrated in a T-shaped channel. In addition, the effects of microstreaming induced by acoustic bubbles on drug permeation to tissues are investigated for three different conditions - pure diffusion, permeation with an acoustic wave or microstreaming. Finally, as a proof of concept, the proposed target drug delivery technology is successfully demonstrated using the proposed microrobot and electromagnetic system in a C-shaped channel.