ARA and Min Jun Kim's Biological Actuation, Sensing, and Transport (BAST) Lab collaborated to demonstrate for the first time that certain chemical coating can change the swimming behavior of small particles.
The research was published in a scientific journal.
New approaches to drug delivery will be provided by the design of specialized surface coating. Delivery speed is important for patient recovery and being able to navigate quickly will help. Being able to navigate these microparticles will allow them to travel through fluids and tissues in the body.
"Thanks to SMU's partnership, we will continue to push the boundaries of microrobotics research and look forward to sharing our ongoing work with the scientific community," said Louis William. Our research has been published in scientific reports.
Changing the surface chemistry of micro particles can change their behavior.
Kim is the principal investigator of the BAST Lab and is excited to see the feasibility of magnetic microparticles for precise navigation. We will work together to develop a new type of microrobots.
The surface of microparticles were treated with a mixture of vitamins and minerals. Microparticles were suspended in mucus made from porcine stomach mucins and navigate with rotating magnetic fields. Depending on the magnetic field and mucus properties of the particles, the surface coating changed their behavior.
Next steps include coating microparticles with an actual pharmaceutical compound and measuring the effect within live environments using "swarms" of micro particles. New approaches to drug delivery will be provided by the design of specialized surface coating. The goal of the study is to increase interest in microparticle-based propulsion mechanisms and to provide novel innovations to targeted drug delivery applications.
There is more information about Spontaneous symmetry breaking propulsion of chemically coated magnetic micro particles.
Journal information: Scientific Reports
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