Wireless millirobots engineered to infiltrate intricate vascular networks within living organisms,particularly within constricted and confined spaces,hold immense promise for the future of medical treatments.However,w...Wireless millirobots engineered to infiltrate intricate vascular networks within living organisms,particularly within constricted and confined spaces,hold immense promise for the future of medical treatments.However,with their multifaceted and intricate designs,some robots often grapple with motion and functionality issues when confronted with tight spaces characterized by small cross-sectional dimensions.In this study,drawing inspiration from the high aspect ratio and undulating swimming patterns of snakes,a millimeter-scale,snake-like robot was designed and fabricated via a combination of extrusion-based four-dimensional(4D)printing and magnetic-responsive intelligent functional inks.A sophisticated motion control strategy was also developed,which enables the robots to perform various dynamic movements,such as undulating swimming,precise turns,graceful circular motions,and coordinated cluster movements,under diverse magnetic field variations.As a potential application,the snake robot can navigate and release drugs in a model coronary intervention vessel with tortuous channels and fluid filling.The novel design and promising applications of this snake robot are invaluable tools in future medical surgeries and interventions.展开更多
Utilizing biomaterials in tissue engineering has shown considerable promise for tissue regeneration,particularly through delivering multimodel cell-regulatory signals,including the material-related signals and extrins...Utilizing biomaterials in tissue engineering has shown considerable promise for tissue regeneration,particularly through delivering multimodel cell-regulatory signals,including the material-related signals and extrinsic stimuli.In this research,we developed a magnetic-responsive aligned nanofiber fibrin hydrogel(MAFG),integrating the structured alignment of nanofibers and the pliability of fibrin hydrogel with an external magnetic field.This design aimed to enhance the regenerative response in spinal cord injury treatment.A medium-strength magnetic field,aligned with the spinal cord,was applied to aid motor function recovery in rats with spinal cord injuries.The use of MAFG in this context not only intensified the effect of the magnetic field but also encouraged the activation and differentiation of native neural stem cells.Furthermore,this method effectively steered macrophage polarization towards a beneficial M2 phenotype,addressing immune dysregulation at the injury site.The parallel application of magnetic field stimulation through MAFG in a spinal cord injury model contributed to the concurrent promotion of neurogenesis,angiogenesis,and immunomodulation,resulting in marked improvement in motor function in rats.This investigation underscores the therapeutic potential of magnetic field stimulation and highlights how aligning this stimulation with the spinal cord can significantly enhance the regenerative milieu at the injury site.展开更多
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.52105421 and 52373050)the Guangdong Provincial Natural Science Foundation,China(No.2022A1515011621)+1 种基金the Science and Technology Projects in Guangzhou,China(Nos.202102080330 and 2024A04J6446)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,Sun Yat-sen University(No.22qntd0101).
文摘Wireless millirobots engineered to infiltrate intricate vascular networks within living organisms,particularly within constricted and confined spaces,hold immense promise for the future of medical treatments.However,with their multifaceted and intricate designs,some robots often grapple with motion and functionality issues when confronted with tight spaces characterized by small cross-sectional dimensions.In this study,drawing inspiration from the high aspect ratio and undulating swimming patterns of snakes,a millimeter-scale,snake-like robot was designed and fabricated via a combination of extrusion-based four-dimensional(4D)printing and magnetic-responsive intelligent functional inks.A sophisticated motion control strategy was also developed,which enables the robots to perform various dynamic movements,such as undulating swimming,precise turns,graceful circular motions,and coordinated cluster movements,under diverse magnetic field variations.As a potential application,the snake robot can navigate and release drugs in a model coronary intervention vessel with tortuous channels and fluid filling.The novel design and promising applications of this snake robot are invaluable tools in future medical surgeries and interventions.
基金funding support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.32271414 and 82201521)the Tsinghua Precision Medicine Foundation(No.2022TS001).
文摘Utilizing biomaterials in tissue engineering has shown considerable promise for tissue regeneration,particularly through delivering multimodel cell-regulatory signals,including the material-related signals and extrinsic stimuli.In this research,we developed a magnetic-responsive aligned nanofiber fibrin hydrogel(MAFG),integrating the structured alignment of nanofibers and the pliability of fibrin hydrogel with an external magnetic field.This design aimed to enhance the regenerative response in spinal cord injury treatment.A medium-strength magnetic field,aligned with the spinal cord,was applied to aid motor function recovery in rats with spinal cord injuries.The use of MAFG in this context not only intensified the effect of the magnetic field but also encouraged the activation and differentiation of native neural stem cells.Furthermore,this method effectively steered macrophage polarization towards a beneficial M2 phenotype,addressing immune dysregulation at the injury site.The parallel application of magnetic field stimulation through MAFG in a spinal cord injury model contributed to the concurrent promotion of neurogenesis,angiogenesis,and immunomodulation,resulting in marked improvement in motor function in rats.This investigation underscores the therapeutic potential of magnetic field stimulation and highlights how aligning this stimulation with the spinal cord can significantly enhance the regenerative milieu at the injury site.
