Capsule-Type Magnetic Microrobot Actuated by an External Magnetic Field for Selective Drug Delivery in Human Blood Vessels

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a novel capsule-type magnetic microrobot (CMM) that can navigate along a tubular environment and selectively release drugs in different target points actuated by a magnetic navigation system. The proposed CMM is a capsule-type structure with two cylindrical drug chambers that contain different drugs. It can navigate through a tubular environment by a magnetic gradient and release drugs at different positions by using uniform rotating magnetic fields. The proposed CMM was prototyped using 3-D printing technology. The operating conditions of a drug-releasing motion were determined by investigating the magnetic and friction torques within the body. Finally, we performed various experiments in a tubular environment to verify the validity of the proposed CMM.