Locomotive micro-implant with active electromagnetic propulsion

An active locomotive technique requiring only an external power source and a static magnetic field is presented, and its operation is analyzed and simulated. For a modest static MRI magnetic field of 1 T, the results show that a 1-mm cube achieves roughly 3 cm/sec of lateral motion using less than 20.4 muW of power. Current-carrying wires generate the forces, resulting in highly controllable motion. Existing solutions trade off size and power: passive solutions are small but impractical, and mechanical solutions are inefficient and large. The presented solution captures the advantages of both systems, and has much better scalability.