Micro and Nano Robotics

Force Generation by Enhanced Diffusion in Enzyme-Loaded Vesicles

This study investigates how enhanced diffusion in enzyme-loaded vesicles creates pressure gradients leading to deformation and self-propulsion in substrate gradients.

Magnetized Cellbots to Spatiotemporally Control Differentiation of Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

The paper introduces a magnetic microrobot platform to spatiotemporally control cell differentiation by delivering biological signals to target cells.

De-novo design of actively spinning and gyrating spherical micro-vesicles

This paper designs autonomous spherical micro-rotors using Giant Unilamellar Vesicles and enzymes to achieve spontaneous symmetry-breaking and diverse movements.

AggreBots: configuring CiliaBots through guided, modular tissue aggregation

The paper introduces AggreBots, a platform for creating designer motility patterns in multicellular tissues by spatially controlling the aggregation of epithelial spheroids, achieving greater motility than traditional CiliaBots.

Fluoroscopic-Guided Magnetic Soft Millirobot for Atraumatic Endovascular Drug Delivery

This paper introduces EndoBot, a magnetic soft millirobot for atraumatic endovascular drug delivery, showing minimal hemolysis and effective localized drug deposition.

Synchronization and metachronal waves of elastic cilia caused by transient viscous flow

This study models elastic cilia coupled by transient viscous flow, showing synchronization and metachronal waves influenced by vorticity diffusion.

Physical confinement regulates transition in nematode motility

This study investigates how nematodes navigate 3D granular environments by engineering a transparent matrix and observing non-monotonic propulsive speed responses to physical confinement.

Kinking and buckling instability in growing bacterial chains

This study models how mechanical stress in bacterial chains leads to kinking or buckling, affecting chain breakage and sliding efficiency.

A dynamical analysis of the alignment mechanism between two interacting cells

This paper analyzes the alignment mechanism of two interacting cells using a dynamical system approach, finding that self-propulsion and overlap avoidance interact to generate alignment.

Medium-assisted tumbling controls bacteria exploration in a complex fluid

This study investigates how E. coli bacteria navigate complex non-Newtonian fluids, finding that mechanical properties of the medium override their natural motility strategies.

Swarming bacteria exhibit developmental phase transitions to establish scattered colonies in new regions

The paper studies T9SS-driven bacterial swarms, showing they transition through phase changes to form scattered microcolonies, reducing competition in the oral microbiota.

A novel mechanism of microbial attachment: the flagellar pump of Giardia lamblia

This study identifies a hydrodynamic mechanism of microbial attachment in Giardia lamblia, showing that flagellar-generated fluid flow creates negative pressure sufficient for attachment to various surfaces.

Physical mechanism reveals bacterial slowdown above a critical number of flagella

The paper uses simulations to show that bacterial swimming slows when flagella exceed a critical number due to motor load and flagellar cooperation.

Feeders and Expellers, Two Types of Animalcules With Outboard Cilia, Have Distinct Surface Interactions

The paper identifies two types of microswimmers, feeders and expellers, with distinct surface interaction behaviors based on their ciliary motion.

Enhanced bacterial chemotaxis in confined microchannels: Optimal performance in lane widths matching circular swimming radius

This study shows that Escherichia coli exhibits enhanced chemotaxis in microfluidic lanes with widths matching their circular swimming radius, supported by experiments and simulations.

Biophysical limits of ultrafast cellular motility

The paper develops a quantitative framework to evaluate and compare extreme cellular motility across single-cell organisms, revealing a scaling law between the cellular acceleration number and transient Reynolds number.

Feeding Rates of Sessile versus Motile Ciliates are Hydrodynamically Equivalent

The paper compares feeding rates of motile and sessile ciliates, finding they are hydrodynamically equivalent in nutrient transport efficiency.

Photoacoustics-guided Real-Time Closed-loop Control of Magnetic Microrobots through Deep Learning

This paper presents a real-time closed-loop control system for magnetic microrobots using photoacoustic imaging and deep learning, showing improved tracking accuracy compared to ultrasound.

Janus Mazebots and Cellbots Navigating Obstacles in Dense Mammalian Environment

This paper develops Mazebots and cellbots for navigating dense mammalian environments, demonstrating their biocompatibility and potential for biomedical applications.

Fluid flow reconstruction around a free-swimming sperm in 3D

This study reconstructs fluid flow around a free-swimming human sperm using 3D microscopy and numerical models, revealing counter-rotating vortices in the flow pattern.

An open platform for high-resolution light-based control of microscopic collectives

The paper introduces an open-source platform for controlling microscopic collectives using light-based microenvironments.

Biohybrid Microswimmers Against Bacterial Infections

This paper develops biohybrid microswimmers loaded with antibiotics to treat bacterial infections with precise spatial and temporal drug delivery.

Coupled active systems encode emergent behavioral dynamics of the unicellular predator Lacrymaria olor

Analysis of millions of unique cellular morphologies of the highly dynamic single-celled predator Lacrymaria olor reveals that it programs a comprehensive search space and emergent hunting behavior through coupling surface based active cilia and cortex based contractile molecular systems together.