Abstract
As a research field of robotics, micro/nanorobots have been extensively studied in recent years because of their important application prospects in biomedical fields, such as medical diagnosis, nanoscale surgery, and targeted therapy. In this article, recent progress on micro/nanorobots is reviewed regarding actuation technologies. First, the different actuation mechanisms are divided into two types, external field actuation and self-actuation. Then, a few latest achievements on actuation methods are presented. On this basis, the principles of various actuation methods and their limitations are also analyzed. Finally, some key challenges in the development of micro/nanorobots are summarized and the next development direction of the field is explored.
Highlights
In the past few decades, micro/nanorobots have developed rapidly as an emerging field of robotics
The combination of micro/nanorobots with biomedicine can solve problems that cannot be solved by traditional medicine, and is expected to bring up a new medical revolution [13]
Some traditional robotic theories and technologies cannot be applied in micro/nanorobots
Summary
In the past few decades, micro/nanorobots have developed rapidly as an emerging field of robotics. Micro/nanorobots can operate noninvasively in small, inaccessible spaces and play an important role in biomedicine and other fields, such as targeted drug delivery to treat cancer [1,2,3,4,5,6], nanosurgery [7,8], and environmental treatment [9,10,11]. The combination of micro/nanorobots with biomedicine can solve problems that cannot be solved by traditional medicine, and is expected to bring up a new medical revolution [13]. Due to the small size of micro/nanorobots, they are difficult to design, build, and navigate. Some traditional robotic theories and technologies cannot be applied in micro/nanorobots.
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