Cellular Manipulation Using Rolling Microrobots

Many biomedical applications, such as targeted drug delivery or cell manipulation, are well suited for the deployment of microrobots, untethered devices that are capable of carrying out tasks at the microscale. One biocompatible means of driving microrobots relies on magnetic actuation. In particular, micro-robots driven using rotating fields rather than magnetic field gradients are especially practical for real-word applications. Many biological applications involve enclosed environments, such as blood vessels, in which surfaces are abundant, therefore, surface rolling is a particularly pertinent method of transportation. In this paper we demonstrate manipulation and transportation of cells using two types of magnetically driven rolling microrobots. We find that the microrobots are able to manipulate the cells by physically pushing or by first adhering to the cells and then carrying them. Microrobots spinning at high rates also can transport cells via the induced fluid flows.