World’s first ciliary microrobots could change the way we take medicine

Science fiction is fast becoming reality, with scientists in South Korea developing an astonishingly fast-moving remote-controlled microrobot designed to travel through the human bloodstream to deliver treatment directly to the organs that need it. 

Developed by the Department of Robotics Engineering at the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), the new microrobot is highly maneuverable and moves a least eight times faster than its most recent predecessor, using a propulsion system inspired by the commonly studied ciliated organism, the paramecium.

A major challenge in creating a microrobot that can travel directly to an affected organ is the way fluids in a microscopic environment work.

Microorganisms such as bacteria and protozoa propel themselves the way they do for a reason – they can't move efficiently through fluids in a macro environment using the kinds of movements that larger animals use. This is especially the case in a fluid that is thicker than water, such as human blood, where even the types of propulsion systems used by boats and submarines aren't efficient.

Until now, however, a paramecium-like propulsion system with the large number of moving, hair-like cilia that these organisms use has seemed beyond reach.

The South Korean research team achieved this world first by using 3D laser lithography to create a ciliated polymer base structure for the microrobot. They then deposited a layer of nickel and titanium over the cilia to provide magnetic actuation and ensure it is compatible with a biological system.