{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T03:27:10Z","timestamp":1790911630369,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":122,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,27]],"date-time":"2020-11-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1606435200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100008398","name":"Villum Fonden","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["34424"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["34424"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100008398","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100008398","name":"Villum Fonden","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["00022918"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["00022918"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100008398","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Micromachines"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Microswimmers are a rapidly developing research area attracting enormous attention because of their many potential applications with high societal value. A particularly promising target for cleverly engineered microswimmers is the field of biomedical applications, where many interesting examples have already been reported for e.g., cargo transport and drug delivery, artificial insemination, sensing, indirect manipulation of cells and other microscopic objects, imaging, and microsurgery. Pioneered only two decades ago, research studies on the use of microswimmers in biomedical applications are currently progressing at an incredibly fast pace. Given the recent nature of the research, there are currently no clinically approved microswimmer uses, and it is likely that several years will yet pass before any clinical uses can become a reality. Nevertheless, current research is laying the foundation for clinical translation, as more and more studies explore various strategies for developing biocompatible and biodegradable microswimmers fueled by in vivo-friendly means. The aim of this review is to provide a summary of the reported biomedical applications of microswimmers, with focus on the most recent advances. Finally, the main considerations and challenges for clinical translation and commercialization are discussed.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/mi11121048","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,27]],"date-time":"2020-11-27T09:16:49Z","timestamp":1606468609000},"page":"1048","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":105,"title":["Recent Advances in Microswimmers for Biomedical Applications"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1273-2885","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ada-Ioana","family":"Bunea","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Centre for Nano Fabrication and Characterization (DTU Nanolab), Technical University of Denmark, \u00d8rsted Plads 347, 2800 Lyngby, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2491-1098","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rafael","family":"Taboryski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Centre for Nano Fabrication and Characterization (DTU Nanolab), Technical University of Denmark, \u00d8rsted Plads 347, 2800 Lyngby, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"555","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.nanolett.5b04221","article-title":"Cellular cargo delivery: Toward assisted fertilization by sperm-carrying micromotors","volume":"16","author":"Schwarz","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nano Lett."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9801","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-018-28102-9","article-title":"Motility and chemotaxis of bacteria-driven microswimmers fabricated using antigen 43-mediated biotin display","volume":"8","author":"Schauer","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6581","DOI":"10.1002\/adma.201302544","article-title":"Development of a sperm-flagella driven micro-bio-robot","volume":"25","author":"Magdanz","year":"2013","journal-title":"Adv. Mater."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"832","DOI":"10.1002\/adma.201504327","article-title":"Medibots: Dual-action biogenic microdaggers for single-cell surgery and drug release","volume":"28","author":"Srivastava","year":"2016","journal-title":"Adv. Mater."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Singh, A.V., Dad Ansari, M.H., Dayan, C.B., Giltinan, J., Wang, S., Yu, Y., Kishore, V., Laux, P., Luch, A., and Sitti, M. (2019). Multifunctional magnetic hairbot for untethered osteogenesis, ultrasound contrast imaging and drug delivery. Biomaterials, 219.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biomaterials.2019.119394"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1627","DOI":"10.1021\/acsbiomaterials.7b00086","article-title":"Magnetic field guided chemotaxis of iMushbots for targeted anticancer therapeutics","volume":"3","author":"Bhuyan","year":"2017","journal-title":"ACS Biomater. Sci. Eng."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Magdanz, V., Khalil, I.S.M., Simmchen, J., Furtado, G.P., Mohanty, S., Gebauer, J., Xu, H., Klingner, A., Aziz, A., and Medina-S\u00e1nchez, M. (2020). IRONSperm: Sperm-templated soft magnetic microrobots. Sci. Adv., 6.","DOI":"10.1126\/sciadv.aba5855"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4571","DOI":"10.1021\/acsabm.9b00677","article-title":"Acoustic propulsion of vitamin C loaded teabots for targeted oxidative stress and amyloid therapeutics","volume":"2","author":"Bhuyan","year":"2019","journal-title":"ACS Appl. Bio Mater."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1800227","DOI":"10.1002\/lpor.201800227","article-title":"Strategies for optical trapping in biological samples: Aiming at microrobotic surgeons","volume":"13","author":"Bunea","year":"2019","journal-title":"Laser Photonics Rev."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"43352","DOI":"10.1021\/acsami.0c08444","article-title":"Magnetotactic T-budbots to kill-n-clean biofilms","volume":"12","author":"Bhuyan","year":"2020","journal-title":"ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1970192","DOI":"10.1002\/adma.201970192","article-title":"MOFBOTS: Metal\u2013organic framework-based biomedical microrobots","volume":"31","author":"Wang","year":"2019","journal-title":"Adv. Mater."},{"key":"ref_12","first-page":"22","article-title":"There\u2019s plenty of room at the bottom","volume":"23","author":"Feynman","year":"1960","journal-title":"Eng. Sci. Mag."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1121","DOI":"10.1038\/4581121a","article-title":"Voyage of the microrobots","volume":"458","author":"Sitti","year":"2009","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1900583","DOI":"10.1002\/admt.201900583","article-title":"Laser controlled 65 micrometer long microrobot made of Ni-Ti shape memory alloy","volume":"4","author":"Kim","year":"2019","journal-title":"Adv. Mater. Technol."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1901779","DOI":"10.1002\/adhm.201901779","article-title":"Microcontainer delivery of antibiotic improves treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms","volume":"9","author":"Birk","year":"2020","journal-title":"Adv. Healthc. Mater."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2001031","DOI":"10.1002\/adhm.202001031","article-title":"Biodegradable metal\u2013organic framework-based microrobots (MOFBOTs)","volume":"9","author":"Terzopoulou","year":"2020","journal-title":"Adv. Healthc. Mater."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2000046","DOI":"10.1002\/adhm.202000046","article-title":"Biomineralization of bacteria by a metal\u2013organic framework for therapeutic delivery","volume":"9","author":"Yan","year":"2020","journal-title":"Adv. Healthc. Mater."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"55","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-bioeng-010510-103409","article-title":"Microrobots for minimally invasive medicine","volume":"12","author":"Nelson","year":"2010","journal-title":"Annu. Rev. Biomed. Eng."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2002203","DOI":"10.1002\/advs.202002203","article-title":"Medical micro\/nanorobots in precision medicine","volume":"7","author":"Soto","year":"2020","journal-title":"Adv. Sci."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"064107","DOI":"10.1063\/1.3079655","article-title":"Artificial bacterial flagella: Fabrication and magnetic control","volume":"94","author":"Zhang","year":"2009","journal-title":"Appl. Phys. Lett."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1434","DOI":"10.1177\/0278364909341658","article-title":"How should microrobots swim?","volume":"28","author":"Abbott","year":"2009","journal-title":"Int. J. Rob. Res."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8794","DOI":"10.1021\/nn502360t","article-title":"Nanopropellers and their actuation in complex viscoelastic media","volume":"8","author":"Schamel","year":"2014","journal-title":"ACS Nano"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rogowski, L.W., Oxner, M., Tang, J., and Kim, M.J. (2020). Heterogeneously flagellated microswimmer behavior in viscous fluids. Biomicrofluidics, 14.","DOI":"10.1063\/1.5137743"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3353","DOI":"10.1021\/acsnano.8b09233","article-title":"3D-printed biodegradable microswimmer for theranostic cargo delivery and release","volume":"13","author":"Ceylan","year":"2019","journal-title":"ACS Nano"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1259","DOI":"10.1039\/C2NR32554C","article-title":"Bio-inspired magnetic swimming microrobots for biomedical applications","volume":"5","author":"Peyer","year":"2013","journal-title":"Nanoscale"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1007\/s12213-015-0083-6","article-title":"Controlling multiple microrobots: Recent progress and future challenges","volume":"10","author":"Chowdhury","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Micro-Bio Robot."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2981","DOI":"10.1002\/adma.201404444","article-title":"Controlled in vivo swimming of a swarm of bacteria-like microrobotic flagella","volume":"27","author":"Servant","year":"2015","journal-title":"Adv. Mater."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"617","DOI":"10.1177\/0278364920903107","article-title":"Controlling two-dimensional collective formation and cooperative behavior of magnetic microrobot swarms","volume":"39","author":"Dong","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int. J. Rob. Res."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Liang, X., Mou, F., Huang, Z., Zhang, J., You, M., Xu, L., Luo, M., and Guan, J. (2020). Hierarchical microswarms with leader\u2013follower-like structures: Electrohydrodynamic self-organization and multimode collective photoresponses. Adv. Funct. Mater., 30.","DOI":"10.1002\/adfm.201908602"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1438","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-017-01778-9","article-title":"Orthogonal navigation of multiple visible-light-driven artificial microswimmers","volume":"8","author":"Zheng","year":"2017","journal-title":"Nat. Commun."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Koleoso, M., Feng, X., Xue, Y., Li, Q., Munshi, T., and Chen, X. (2020). Micro\/Nano-scale magnetic robots for biomedical applications. Mater. Today Bio, 100085.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.mtbio.2020.100085"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2836","DOI":"10.1002\/smll.201403621","article-title":"A Force to Be Reckoned With: A Review of Synthetic Microswimmers Powered by Ultrasound","volume":"11","author":"Rao","year":"2015","journal-title":"Small"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"862","DOI":"10.1038\/nature04090","article-title":"Microscopic artificial swimmers","volume":"437","author":"Dreyfus","year":"2005","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"647","DOI":"10.1038\/nmat4569","article-title":"Structured light enables biomimetic swimming and versatile locomotion of photoresponsive soft microrobots","volume":"15","author":"Palagi","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nat. Mater."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2047","DOI":"10.1038\/s41377-020-00378-5","article-title":"Opto-thermoelectric microswimmers","volume":"9","author":"Peng","year":"2020","journal-title":"Light Sci. Appl."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"97","DOI":"10.3389\/frobt.2018.00097","article-title":"Bacterial biohybrid microswimmers","volume":"5","author":"Uspal","year":"2018","journal-title":"Front. Robot. AI"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bente, K., Codutti, A., Bachmann, F., and Faivre, D. (2018). Biohybrid and Bioinspired Magnetic Microswimmers. Small, 14.","DOI":"10.1002\/smll.201704374"},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"395","DOI":"10.1039\/C6LC01272H","article-title":"Acoustic actuation of bioinspired microswimmers","volume":"17","author":"Kaynak","year":"2017","journal-title":"Lab Chip"},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Xin, H., Zhao, N., Wang, Y., Zhao, X., Pan, T., Shi, Y., and Li, B. (2020). Optically controlled living micromotors for the manipulation and disruption of biological targets. Nano Lett.","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.nanolett.0c02501"},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Nagai, M., Hirano, T., and Shibata, T. (2019). Phototactic algae-driven unidirectional transport of submillimeter-sized cargo in a microchannel. Micromachines, 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/mi10020130"},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1038\/ncomms12828","article-title":"Phototaxis of synthetic microswimmers in optical landscapes","volume":"7","author":"Lozano","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nat. Commun."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1706660","DOI":"10.1002\/adfm.201706660","article-title":"Photogravitactic microswimmers","volume":"28","author":"Singh","year":"2018","journal-title":"Adv. Funct. Mater."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1087","DOI":"10.1038\/nnano.2016.187","article-title":"Programmable artificial phototactic microswimmer","volume":"11","author":"Dai","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nat. Nanotechnol."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Akolpoglu, M.B., Dogan, N.O., Bozuyuk, U., Ceylan, H., Kizilel, S., and Sitti, M. (2020). High-yield production of biohybrid microalgae for on-demand cargo delivery. Adv. Sci., 7.","DOI":"10.1002\/advs.202001256"},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tu, Y., Peng, F., and Wilson, D.A. (2017). Motion manipulation of micro- and nanomotors. Adv. Mater., 29.","DOI":"10.1002\/adma.201701970"},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Luo, M., Feng, Y., Wang, T., and Guan, J. (2018). Micro-\/Nanorobots at work in active drug delivery. Adv. Funct. Mater., 28.","DOI":"10.1002\/adfm.201706100"},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"41","DOI":"10.1016\/j.addr.2018.09.005","article-title":"Micromotors for drug delivery in vivo: The road ahead","volume":"138","author":"Srivastava","year":"2019","journal-title":"Adv. Drug Deliv. Rev."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2190","DOI":"10.1002\/anie.201809101","article-title":"Chemotactic micro- and nanodevices","volume":"58","author":"Plutnar","year":"2019","journal-title":"Angew. Chemie Int. Ed."},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2000049","DOI":"10.1002\/aisy.202000049","article-title":"Recent advances in motion control of micro\/nanomotors","volume":"2","author":"Yang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Adv. Intell. Syst."},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"38209","DOI":"10.1039\/C9RA07342F","article-title":"An insight into biomimetic 4D printing","volume":"9","author":"Kanu","year":"2019","journal-title":"RSC Adv."},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1016\/j.actbio.2019.05.005","article-title":"4D printing and stimuli-responsive materials in biomedical aspects","volume":"92","author":"Lui","year":"2019","journal-title":"Acta Biomater."},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Spiegel, C.A., Hippler, M., M\u00fcnchinger, A., Bastmeyer, M., Barner-Kowollik, C., Wegener, M., and Blasco, E. (2020). 4D printing at the microscale. Adv. Funct. Mater., 30.","DOI":"10.1002\/adfm.201907615"},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1900086","DOI":"10.1002\/biot.201900086","article-title":"Recent advances in 4D bioprinting","volume":"15","author":"Yang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Biotechnol. J."},{"key":"ref_54","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zhang, Y., Yuan, K., and Zhang, L. (2019). Micro\/Nanomachines: From functionalization to sensing and removal. Adv. Mater. Technol., 4.","DOI":"10.1002\/admt.201800636"},{"key":"ref_55","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"41","DOI":"10.1016\/j.mne.2018.12.004","article-title":"Optimization of 3D-printed microstructures for investigating the properties of the mucus biobarrier","volume":"2","author":"Bunea","year":"2019","journal-title":"Micro Nano Eng."},{"key":"ref_56","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"164","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jconrel.2012.04.009","article-title":"Designing the nanoparticle-biomolecule interface for \u201ctargeting and therapeutic delivery\u201d","volume":"161","author":"Mahon","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Control. Release"},{"key":"ref_57","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1271","DOI":"10.1021\/nl072275j","article-title":"Catalytic motors for transport of colloidal cargo","volume":"8","author":"Sundararajan","year":"2008","journal-title":"Nano Lett."},{"key":"ref_58","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8164","DOI":"10.1021\/ja803529u","article-title":"Synthetic nanomotors in microchannel networks: Directional microchip motion and controlled manipulation of cargo","volume":"130","author":"Burdick","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Am. Chem. Soc."},{"key":"ref_59","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"811","DOI":"10.1002\/adma.201103818","article-title":"Magnetic helical micromachines: Fabrication, controlled swimming, and cargo transport","volume":"24","author":"Tottori","year":"2012","journal-title":"Adv. Mater."},{"key":"ref_60","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"460","DOI":"10.1002\/smll.201101909","article-title":"Cargo-towing fuel-free magnetic nanoswimmers for targeted drug delivery","volume":"8","author":"Gao","year":"2012","journal-title":"Small"},{"key":"ref_61","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"250","DOI":"10.1021\/am507680u","article-title":"Biodegradable protein-based rockets for drug transportation and light-triggered release","volume":"7","author":"Wu","year":"2015","journal-title":"ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces"},{"key":"ref_62","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1666","DOI":"10.1002\/adfm.201403891","article-title":"Magnetic helical microswimmers functionalized with lipoplexes for targeted gene delivery","volume":"25","author":"Qiu","year":"2015","journal-title":"Adv. Funct. Mater."},{"key":"ref_63","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"941","DOI":"10.1038\/nnano.2016.137","article-title":"Magneto-aerotactic bacteria deliver drug-containing nanoliposomes to tumour hypoxic regions","volume":"11","author":"Felfoul","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nat. Nanotechnol."},{"key":"ref_64","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mostaghaci, B., Yasa, O., Zhuang, J., and Sitti, M. (2017). Bioadhesive bacterial microswimmers for targeted drug delivery in the urinary and gastrointestinal tracts. Adv. Sci., 4.","DOI":"10.1002\/advs.201700058"},{"key":"ref_65","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9759","DOI":"10.1021\/acsnano.7b02082","article-title":"Microemulsion-based soft bacteria-driven microswimmers for active cargo delivery","volume":"11","author":"Singh","year":"2017","journal-title":"ACS Nano"},{"key":"ref_66","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1800064","DOI":"10.1002\/adtp.201800064","article-title":"Mobile microrobots for active therapeutic delivery","volume":"2","author":"Erkoc","year":"2019","journal-title":"Adv. Ther."},{"key":"ref_67","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1259","DOI":"10.1080\/17425247.2019.1676228","article-title":"Micro-nanorobots: Important considerations when developing novel drug delivery platforms","volume":"16","author":"Singh","year":"2019","journal-title":"Expert Opin. Drug Deliv."},{"key":"ref_68","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Agrahari, V., Agrahari, V., Chou, M.L., Chew, C.H., Noll, J., and Burnouf, T. (2020). Intelligent micro-\/nanorobots as drug and cell carrier devices for biomedical therapeutic advancement: Promising development opportunities and translational challenges. Biomaterials, 260.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biomaterials.2020.120163"},{"key":"ref_69","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Xu, D., Wang, Y., Liang, C., You, Y., Sanchez, S., and Ma, X. (2020). Self-propelled micro\/nanomotors for on-demand biomedical cargo transportation. Small, 16.","DOI":"10.1002\/smll.201902464"},{"key":"ref_70","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"294","DOI":"10.1038\/nature03095","article-title":"Targeted cancer therapy","volume":"432","author":"Sawyers","year":"2004","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_71","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4745","DOI":"10.1021\/acsami.8b15586","article-title":"Facile fabrication of magnetic microrobots based on spirulina templates for targeted delivery and synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy","volume":"11","author":"Wang","year":"2019","journal-title":"ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces"},{"key":"ref_72","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Park, J., Jin, C., Lee, S., Kim, J.Y., and Choi, H. (2019). Magnetically actuated degradable microrobots for actively controlled drug release and hyperthermia therapy. Adv. Healthc. Mater., 8.","DOI":"10.1002\/adhm.201900213"},{"key":"ref_73","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Darmawan, B.A., Lee, S.B., Nguyen, V.D., Go, G., Nguyen, K.T., Lee, H.S., Nan, M., Hong, A., Kim, C.S., and Li, H. (2020). Self-folded microrobot for active drug delivery and rapid ultrasound-triggered drug release. Sens. Actuators B Chem., 324.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.snb.2020.128752"},{"key":"ref_74","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chen, W., Sun, M., Fan, X., and Xie, H. (2020). Magnetic\/pH-sensitive double-layer microrobots for drug delivery and sustained release. Appl. Mater. Today, 19.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apmt.2020.100583"},{"key":"ref_75","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"13359","DOI":"10.1021\/acsami.8b19408","article-title":"Recoverable bismuth-based microrobots: Capture, transport, and on-demand release of heavy metals and an anticancer drug in confined spaces","volume":"11","author":"Khezri","year":"2019","journal-title":"ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces"},{"key":"ref_76","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1901697","DOI":"10.1002\/adhm.201901697","article-title":"A needle-type microrobot for targeted drug delivery by affixing to a microtissue","volume":"9","author":"Lee","year":"2020","journal-title":"Adv. Healthc. Mater."},{"key":"ref_77","first-page":"1324","article-title":"Self-propelled and targeted drug delivery of poly (aspartic acid)\/iron-zinc microrocket in the stomach","volume":"13","author":"Zhou","year":"2019","journal-title":"ACS Nano"},{"key":"ref_78","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Liu, K., Ou, J., Wang, S., Gao, J., Liu, L., Ye, Y., Wilson, D.A., Hu, Y., Peng, F., and Tu, Y. (2020). Magnesium-based micromotors for enhanced active and synergistic hydrogen chemotherapy. Appl. Mater. Today, 20.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apmt.2020.100694"},{"key":"ref_79","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Alapan, Y., Bozuyuk, U., Erkoc, P., Karacakol, A.C., and Sitti, M. (2020). Multifunctional surface microrollers for targeted cargo delivery in physiological blood flow. Sci. Robot., 5.","DOI":"10.1126\/scirobotics.aba5726"},{"key":"ref_80","first-page":"1","article-title":"A Capsule-Type Microrobot with Pick-and-Drop Motion for Targeted Drug and Cell Delivery","volume":"7","author":"Lee","year":"2018","journal-title":"Adv. Healthc. Mater."},{"key":"ref_81","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1808992","DOI":"10.1002\/adfm.201808992","article-title":"3D-Printed microrobotic transporters with recapitulated stem cell niche for programmable and active cell delivery","volume":"29","author":"Yasa","year":"2019","journal-title":"Adv. Funct. Mater."},{"key":"ref_82","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Xin, C., Yang, L., Li, J., Hu, Y., Qian, D., Fan, S., Hu, K., Cai, Z., Wu, H., and Wang, D. (2019). Conical hollow microhelices with superior swimming capabilities for targeted cargo delivery. Adv. Mater., 31.","DOI":"10.1002\/adma.201808226"},{"key":"ref_83","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"16097","DOI":"10.1021\/acsami.0c01264","article-title":"Bioinspired Helical Micromotors as Dynamic Cell Microcarriers","volume":"12","author":"Yu","year":"2020","journal-title":"ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces"},{"key":"ref_84","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1512","DOI":"10.1039\/C9MH00279K","article-title":"Magnetically driven piezoelectric soft microswimmers for neuron-like cell delivery and neuronal differentiation","volume":"6","author":"Chen","year":"2019","journal-title":"Mater. Horiz."},{"key":"ref_85","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jeon, S., Kim, S., Ha, S., Lee, S., Kim, E., Kim, S.Y., Park, S.H., Jeon, J.H., Kim, S.W., and Moon, C. (2019). Magnetically actuated microrobots as a platform for stem cell transplantation. Sci. Robot., 4.","DOI":"10.1126\/scirobotics.aav4317"},{"key":"ref_86","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dong, M., Wang, X., Chen, X.Z., Mushtaq, F., Deng, S., Zhu, C., Torlakcik, H., Terzopoulou, A., Qin, X.H., and Xiao, X. (2020). 3D-printed soft magnetoelectric microswimmers for delivery and differentiation of neuron-like cells. Adv. Funct. Mater., 30.","DOI":"10.1002\/adfm.201910323"},{"key":"ref_87","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1914","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.nanolett.8b05051","article-title":"Biomimetic micromotor enables active delivery of antigens for oral vaccination","volume":"19","author":"Wei","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nano Lett."},{"key":"ref_88","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3434","DOI":"10.1021\/acsnano.9b09525","article-title":"Active anion delivery by self-propelled microswimmers","volume":"14","author":"Klein","year":"2020","journal-title":"ACS Nano"},{"key":"ref_89","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7816","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.nanolett.9b02832","article-title":"Micromotors for active delivery of minerals toward the treatment of iron deficiency anemia","volume":"19","author":"Karshalev","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nano Lett."},{"key":"ref_90","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"242","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apmt.2019.02.006","article-title":"Molecular cargo delivery using multicellular magnetic microswimmers","volume":"15","author":"Yan","year":"2019","journal-title":"Appl. Mater. Today"},{"key":"ref_91","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9423","DOI":"10.1021\/acsnano.0c05217","article-title":"Fantastic voyage of nanomotors into the cell","volume":"14","author":"Venugopalan","year":"2020","journal-title":"ACS Nano"},{"key":"ref_92","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Singh, A.V., Ansari, M.H.D., Mahajan, M., Srivastava, S., Kashyap, S., Dwivedi, P., Pandit, V., and Katha, U. (2020). Sperm cell driven microrobots-Emerging opportunities and challenges for biologically inspired robotic design. Micromachines, 11.","DOI":"10.3390\/mi11040448"},{"key":"ref_93","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"R83","DOI":"10.1530\/REP-19-0096","article-title":"Sperm-hybrid micromotors: On-board assistance for nature\u2019s bustling swimmers","volume":"159","author":"Schwarz","year":"2020","journal-title":"Reproduction"},{"key":"ref_94","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4084","DOI":"10.1002\/adma.201505487","article-title":"Dynamic polymeric microtubes for the remote-controlled capture, guidance, and release of sperm cells","volume":"28","author":"Magdanz","year":"2016","journal-title":"Adv. Mater."},{"key":"ref_95","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2000213","DOI":"10.1002\/smll.202000213","article-title":"Sperm-driven micromotors moving in oviduct fluid and viscoelastic media","volume":"16","author":"Striggow","year":"2020","journal-title":"Small"},{"key":"ref_96","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9717","DOI":"10.1039\/D0NR01765E","article-title":"Enhanced motility in a binary mixture of active nano\/microswimmers","volume":"12","author":"Debnath","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nanoscale"},{"key":"ref_97","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12082","DOI":"10.1021\/ja905142q","article-title":"Chemical sensing based on catalytic nanomotors: Motion-based detection of trace silver","volume":"131","author":"Kagan","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Am. Chem. Soc."},{"key":"ref_98","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"42","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bios.2014.05.062","article-title":"Sensing based on the motion of enzyme-modified nanorods","volume":"67","author":"Bunea","year":"2015","journal-title":"Biosens. Bioelectron."},{"key":"ref_99","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4292","DOI":"10.1002\/chem.201304804","article-title":"Biomimetic artificial inorganic enzyme-free self-propelled microfish robot for selective detection of Pb2+ in water","volume":"20","author":"Moo","year":"2014","journal-title":"Chem. A Eur. J."},{"key":"ref_100","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1117\/1.JBO.24.3.035001","article-title":"Optical catapulting of microspheres in mucus models\u2014Toward overcoming the mucus biobarrier","volume":"24","author":"Bunea","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Biomed. Opt."},{"key":"ref_101","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6750","DOI":"10.1039\/C7SC02434G","article-title":"Nano\/microvehicles for efficient delivery and (bio)sensing at the cellular level","volume":"8","author":"Campuzano","year":"2017","journal-title":"Chem. Sci."},{"key":"ref_102","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1705867","DOI":"10.1002\/adfm.201705867","article-title":"Artificial micro\/nanomachines for bioapplications: Biochemical delivery and diagnostic sensing","volume":"28","author":"Kim","year":"2018","journal-title":"Adv. Funct. Mater."},{"key":"ref_103","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"476","DOI":"10.1177\/0278364919894374","article-title":"Local flow sensing on helical microrobots for semi-automatic motion adaptation","volume":"39","author":"Barbot","year":"2019","journal-title":"Int. J. Rob. Res."},{"key":"ref_104","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2000095","DOI":"10.1002\/aisy.202000095","article-title":"Soft spiral-shaped microswimmers for autonomous swimming control by detecting surrounding environments","volume":"2","author":"Yoshida","year":"2020","journal-title":"Adv. Intell. Syst."},{"key":"ref_105","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sun, Z., Popp, P.F., Loderer, C., and Revilla-Guarinos, A. (2019). Genetically engineered bacterial biohybrid microswimmers for sensing applications. Sensors, 20.","DOI":"10.3390\/s20010180"},{"key":"ref_106","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2880","DOI":"10.1021\/acsnano.9b06731","article-title":"Photoacoustic imaging-trackable magnetic microswimmers for pathogenic bacterial infection treatment","volume":"14","author":"Xie","year":"2020","journal-title":"ACS Nano"},{"key":"ref_107","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7438","DOI":"10.1039\/D0SC02431G","article-title":"Asymmetry controlled dynamic behavior of autonomous chemiluminescent Janus microswimmers","volume":"11","author":"Salinas","year":"2020","journal-title":"Chem. Sci."},{"key":"ref_108","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dasgupta, D., Pally, D., Saini, D.K., Bhat, R., and Ghosh, A. (2020). Nanomotors sense local physicochemical heterogeneities in tumor microenvironments. Angew. Chem.","DOI":"10.26434\/chemrxiv.12063420"},{"key":"ref_109","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7519","DOI":"10.1002\/anie.201201902","article-title":"Acoustic droplet vaporization and propulsion of perfluorocarbon-loaded microbullets for targeted tissue penetration and deformation","volume":"51","author":"Kagan","year":"2012","journal-title":"Angew. Chem. Int. Ed."},{"key":"ref_110","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3870","DOI":"10.1364\/OL.43.003870","article-title":"Natural convection induced by an optically fabricated and actuated microtool with a thermoplasmonic disk","volume":"43","author":"Engay","year":"2018","journal-title":"Opt. Lett."},{"key":"ref_111","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"eaax3084","DOI":"10.1126\/sciadv.aax3084","article-title":"3D steerable, acoustically powered microswimmers for single-particle manipulation","volume":"5","author":"Ren","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sci. Adv."},{"key":"ref_112","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14823","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1903406116","article-title":"The optoelectronic microrobot: A versatile toolbox for micromanipulation","volume":"116","author":"Zhang","year":"2019","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA"},{"key":"ref_113","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pan\u00e9, S., Puigmart\u00ed-Luis, J., Bergeles, C., Chen, X.Z., Pellicer, E., Sort, J., Po\u010depcov\u00e1, V., Ferreira, A., and Nelson, B.J. (2019). Imaging technologies for biomedical micro- and nanoswimmers. Adv. Mater. Technol., 4.","DOI":"10.1002\/admt.201800575"},{"key":"ref_114","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10865","DOI":"10.1021\/acsnano.0c05530","article-title":"Medical imaging of microrobots: Toward in vivo applications","volume":"14","author":"Aziz","year":"2020","journal-title":"ACS Nano"},{"key":"ref_115","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6604","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.nanolett.6b03303","article-title":"Swimming microrobot optical nanoscopy","volume":"16","author":"Li","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nano Lett."},{"key":"ref_116","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"13085","DOI":"10.1021\/acssuschemeng.0c04877","article-title":"High-performance spirulina\u2013bismuth biohybrids for enhanced computed tomography imaging","volume":"8","author":"Hosseini","year":"2020","journal-title":"ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng."},{"key":"ref_117","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8247","DOI":"10.1021\/acsnano.0c01705","article-title":"Cancer cells microsurgery via asymmetric bent surface Au\/Ag\/Ni microrobotic scalpels through a transversal rotating magnetic field","volume":"14","author":"Ruml","year":"2020","journal-title":"ACS Nano"},{"key":"ref_118","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"170","DOI":"10.3389\/fbioe.2018.00170","article-title":"Frontiers of medical micro\/nanorobotics: In vivo applications and commercialization perspectives toward clinical uses","volume":"6","author":"Soto","year":"2018","journal-title":"Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol."},{"key":"ref_119","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"012002","DOI":"10.1088\/2516-1091\/ab22d5","article-title":"Translational prospects of untethered medical microrobots","volume":"1","author":"Ceylan","year":"2019","journal-title":"Prog. Biomed. Eng."},{"key":"ref_120","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1900137","DOI":"10.1002\/aisy.201900137","article-title":"Roads to smart artificial microswimmers","volume":"2","author":"Tsang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Adv. Intell. Syst."},{"key":"ref_121","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ou, J., Liu, K., Jiang, J., Wilson, D.A., Liu, L., Wang, F., Wang, S., Tu, Y., and Peng, F. (2020). Micro-\/Nanomotors toward biomedical applications: The recent progress in biocompatibility. Small, 16.","DOI":"10.1002\/smll.201906184"},{"key":"ref_122","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Halder, A., and Sun, Y. (2019). Biocompatible propulsion for biomedical micro\/nano robotics. Biosens. Bioelectron., 139.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bios.2019.111334"}],"container-title":["Micromachines"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-666X\/11\/12\/1048\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T10:38:33Z","timestamp":1760179113000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-666X\/11\/12\/1048"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,27]]},"references-count":122,"journal-issue":{"issue":"12","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,12]]}},"alternative-id":["mi11121048"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mi11121048","relation":{},"ISSN":["2072-666X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2072-666X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,27]]}}}