Acoustically-actuated bubble-powered rotational micro-propellers

Mohanty, Sumit; Zhang, Jiena; McNeill, Jeffrey M.; Kuenen, Thom; Linde, Frederic P.; Rouwkema, Jeroen; Misra, Sarthak

doi:10.1016/j.snb.2021.130589

Cited by 34 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…This phenomenon, known as acoustic streaming, results in a net fluid flow directed away from the bubble‐entrapped cavities. [ 29 ] This streaming‐induced flow away from the vibrating end of the cavities results in a reaction force on each cavity, that typically propels most bubble‐powered microrobots. In CeFlowBot, the adjacent arrays of tilted cavities function like an acoustically powered microchannel within the microrobot.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here, we adopt the simulation environment with a 2D design of the microrobot such that actuation velocities are assigned to the vibrating air–water interface of the cavities. [ 29 ] We observe an overall net flow through the channel in the direction away from the outlet of the microchannel ( Figure a). Subsequently, we find that this observation shows the same trend as with the experimental result (Figure 2b).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[23,24] Similar flow fields around a single isolated bubble has also been exploited for actuation of untethered microrobots. [25][26][27][28][29] Notably, acoustically resonant bubbles have also been modelled as mass-spring systems which justifies the utility of bubbles as actuators employed in microfluidic pumps and microrobots. [25,30] The resonant behavior of compressible bubbles to expend their stored elastic energy has been exploited in many bubble-powered microrobots that optimize propulsion speeds at these resonant frequencies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[25,30] The resonant behavior of compressible bubbles to expend their stored elastic energy has been exploited in many bubble-powered microrobots that optimize propulsion speeds at these resonant frequencies. [25][26][27][28][29][30] Besides such bubblepowered microrobots, many other microrobots utilize vibrating micro-structures for propulsion [20] and cargo release. [5,31] This ability of microrobots and microfluidic devices to harvest energy from low-intensity sound waves makes their actuation process biocompatible.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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CeFlowBot: A Biomimetic Flow‐Driven Microrobot that Navigates under Magneto‐Acoustic Fields

Mohanty

Paul

Matos

et al. 2021

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bacterium, [7] alga [8] ). Since most of the above-described organisms are aquatic, their anatomical features precipitate biomimetic approaches to design new microrobots that imitate efficient swimming motion of such organisms.Within such aquatic creatures, a unique swimming mechanism is demonstrated by organisms (e.g., octopus, squid, cuttlefish) that belong to the Cephalopoda family. The cephalopods exhibit a jet-propulsion phenomenon whereby they sequentially inflate and deflate bodies to pump fluid which imparts the necessary thrust to move forward. [9][10][11][12][13][14] This sequential inflation and deflation in cephalopods can be attributed to their elastic bodies which function like a mass-spring system. [14][15][16] These naturally occurring mass-spring resonators have been a motivation to design artificial robotic systems that closely imitate the cephalopod-inspired motion. [14] Previously, different fabrication methods (e.g., mold casting, [9] 3-D printing, [10] shape memory alloys, [11] dielectric elastomers, [13] elastic membranes [14] ) have produced microrobotic designs that mimic members of the Cephalopoda family. Although the aforementioned fabrication methods closely imitate the anatomy of cephalopods up to centimeter scale, their implementation at micro-and nano-scale can be challenging owing to fabrication constraints. Such precise replication of anatomical features at micro-to nano-scale requires multi-step fabrication processes. [5,[17][18][19][20] Specifically, the synthesis of micro-scale movable components that enable Aquatic organisms within the Cephalopoda family (e.g., octopuses, squids, cuttlefish) exist that draw the surrounding fluid inside their bodies and expel it in a single jet thrust to swim forward. Like cephalopods, several acoustically powered microsystems share a similar process of fluid expulsion which makes them useful as microfluidic pumps in lab-on-a-chip devices. Herein, an array of acoustically resonant bubbles are employed to mimic this pumping phenomenon inside an untethered microrobot called CeFlowBot. CeFlowBot contains an array of vibrating bubbles that pump fluid through its inner body thereby boosting its propulsion. CeFlowBots are later functionalized with magnetic layers and steered under combined influence of magnetic and acoustic fields. Moreover, acoustic power modulation of CeFlowBots is used to grasp nearby objects and release it in the surrounding workspace. The ability of CeFlowBots to navigate remote environments under magnetoacoustic fields and perform targeted manipulation makes such microrobots useful for clinical applications such as targeted drug delivery. Lastly, an ultrasound imaging system is employed to visualize the motion of CeFlowBots which provides means to deploy such microrobots in hard-to-reach environments inaccessible to optical cameras.The ORCID identification number(s) for the author(s) of this article can be found under https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202105829.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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CeFlowBot: A Biomimetic Flow‐Driven Microrobot that Navigates under Magneto‐Acoustic Fields

Mohanty

Paul

Matos

et al. 2021

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“…Mohanty et.al. [20] developed micropropellers powered by oscillating microbubbles. The targeted movement of these propellers is achieved by angling the propelling bubbles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insights from a zeroth order analysis on steady streaming generated by an oscillating gas slug

Anil¹,

Pushpavanam²

2021

Preprint

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Active micropumping and micromixing using oscillating bubbles form the basis for various Lab -on -chip applications. Acoustically oscillating bubbles are commonly used in active particle sorting and in micropumps/mixers. Slug flow is a commonly observed flow -regime in gas -liquid flows. In this work, we theoretically find the streaming intensity produced in a confined continuous liquid phase by an acoustically oscillating stationary gas slug undergoing surface mode oscillations.We explicitly specify the interface oscillation and compute the surface mode amplitudes by solving the momentum and continuity equations. The resonant frequency is found to be consistent with that reported experimentally in the literature. The variation of streaming intensity with tube diameter is found to be identical to that reported by K.

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Ultrasound‐Controlled Swarmbots Under Physiological Flow Conditions

Fonseca

Kohler

Ahmed

2022

Adv Materials Inter

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Navigation of microrobots in living vasculatures is essential in realizing targeted drug delivery and advancing non‐invasive surgeries. Acoustically‐controlled “swarmbots” are developed based on the self‐assembly of clinically‐approved microbubbles (MBs). Ultrasound is noninvasive, penetrates deeply into the human body, and is well‐developed in clinical settings. This propulsion strategy relies on two forces: the primary radiation force and the secondary Bjerknes force. Upon ultrasound activation, the MBs self‐assemble into microswarms, which migrate toward and anchor at the containing vessel's wall. A second transducer, which produces an acoustic field parallel to the channel, propels the swarms along the wall. Noting that human arteries have a blood flow 5–19 cm s−1, powerful features of cross‐ and upstream swarmbot navigation are demonstrated against physiologically‐relevant flow rates that reach 16.7 cm s−1. Additionally, controlled navigation of swarmbots is shown within mice blood and under pulsatile flow conditions of 100 beats per minute (bpm); an adult human heart at rest executes between 60 and 100 bpm. This capability represents a much‐needed pathway for advancing preclinical research.

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Acoustically-actuated bubble-powered rotational micro-propellers

Cited by 34 publications

References 36 publications

CeFlowBot: A Biomimetic Flow‐Driven Microrobot that Navigates under Magneto‐Acoustic Fields

CeFlowBot: A Biomimetic Flow‐Driven Microrobot that Navigates under Magneto‐Acoustic Fields

Insights from a zeroth order analysis on steady streaming generated by an oscillating gas slug

Ultrasound‐Controlled Swarmbots Under Physiological Flow Conditions

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