Microrobots formed in droplets could enable precision-targeted drug delivery, improving on I.V. drug delivery that sends only 0.7% of the drug to the target tissue, according to a recent Science Advances study conducted through simulations at the University of Michigan and experiments at the University of Oxford.
An experiment mimicking a treatment for inflammatory bowel disease, performed in a pig intestine and supported by simulations, demonstrated how the microrobots can be delivered by catheter and directed to a target site with a magnetic field. The microrobots are two-sided particles that are composed of a gel that can carry medicines and magnets that enable their control.