The microrobot produced with this innovation was cultured with human nasal turbinated stem cells gathered from the human nose to induce stem cell adherence to the surface area of the microrobot. Through this procedure, a stem cell carrying a microrobot, consisting of magnetic nanoparticles inside and stem cells connected to the exterior surface, was produced. Selective cell delivery was difficult in the case of the existing stem cell therapy. Subsequently, the stem cells were caused to separate into nerve cells to validate normal distinction; the stem cells were differentiated into nerve cells after roughly 21 days. The last objective of this research study is to ensure that the stem cells provided by the robot usually perform their bridge function in a state where the connection between the existing nerve cells is disconnected.
The disadvantage is that it takes a lot of time to develop a single microrobot since voxels, the pixels understood by 3D printing, must be successively cured. In addition, during the two-photon polymerization process, the magnetic nanoparticles in the robot might obstruct the light course.
The 24-h process of stem cells connecting to the microrobot surface (top) and Cell staining results to identify cells connected to the microrobot surface area (bottom). Credit: DGIST (Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology).
To attend to the restraints of the present microrobot production strategy, DGIST Professor Hongsoo Chois research study group produced a method for producing microrobots at a high speed of 100 per minute by streaming a mixture of magnetic nanoparticles and eco-friendly gelatin methacrylate, which can be treated by light, onto the microfluidic chip. Compared to the existing two-photon polymerization technique, this can create microrobots more than 10,000 times quicker.
The microrobot produced with this innovation was cultured with human nasal turbinated stem cells gathered from the human nose to cause stem cell adherence to the surface area of the microrobot. Through this procedure, a stem cell bring a microrobot, consisting of magnetic nanoparticles inside and stem cells attached to the outside surface area, was made. The robotic moves as the magnetic nanoparticles inside the robotic respond to an external magnetic field and can be relocated to a desired position.
Selective cell shipment was hard in the case of the existing stem cell treatment. The stem cell carrying microrobot can move to a preferred location by controlling the magnetic field generated from the electromagnetic field control system in real-time. The research team performed an experiment to take a look at whether the stem cell-carrying microrobot could reach the target point by travelling through a maze-shaped microchannel and consequently verified that the robot might relocate to the wanted place.
In addition, the degradability of the microrobot was evaluated by incubating the stem cell bring the microrobot with a degrading enzyme. After 6 h of incubation, the microrobot was entirely broken down, and the magnetic nanoparticles inside the robotic were gathered by the magnetic field created from the magnetic field control system. Stem cells proliferated at the area where the microrobot was broken down. Subsequently, the stem cells were induced to distinguish into afferent neuron to confirm typical differentiation; the stem cells were separated into nerve cells after around 21 days. This experiment verified that providing stem cells to a desired location utilizing a microrobot was possible which the delivered stem cells could serve as a targeted accuracy healing agent by exhibiting expansion and differentiation.
Moreover, the research study team confirmed whether the stem cells delivered by the microrobot exhibited typical electrical and physiological characteristics. The final goal of this research study is to ensure that the stem cells delivered by the robot usually perform their bridge role in a state where the connection in between the existing nerve cells is detached. To verify this, hippocampal neurons drawn out from rat embryos that stably discharge electrical signals were made use of. The matching cell was attached to the surface of the microrobot, cultured on a micro-sized electrode chip, and electrical signals were observed from the hippocampal neurons after 28 days. Through this, the microrobot was confirmed to properly perform its function as a cell delivery platform.
DGIST Professor Hongsoo Choi said, “We expect that the technologies developed through this study, such as mass production of microrobots, accurate operation by electro-magnetic fields, and stem cell shipment and differentiation, will drastically increase the efficiency of targeted precision therapy in the future.”.
Recommendation: “A Biodegradable Magnetic Microrobot Based on Gelatin Methacrylate for Precise Delivery of Stem Cells with Mass Production Capability” by Seungmin Noh, Sungwoong Jeon, Eunhee Kim, Untaek Oh, Danbi Park, Sun Hwa Park, Sung Won Kim, Salvador Pané, Bradley J. Nelson, Jin-young Kim and Hongsoo Choi, 23 May 2022, Small.DOI: 10.1002/ smll.202107888.
The study was funded by the National Science Challenges Support & & Network, the National Research Foundation of Korea, and the Ministry of Science and ICT.
The breakthrough is anticipated to assist improve the efficiency of regenerative medicine, such as stem cell delivery.
Researchers have established a mass-production approach for biodegradable microrobots that can liquify into the body after delivering medications and cells.
In order to produce a technology that can produce more than 100 microrobots per minute that can be broken down in the body, Professor Hongsoo Chois group at the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering at the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & & Technology (DGIST) dealt with Professor Sung-Won Kims group at Seoul St. Marys Hospital, Catholic University of Korea, and Professor Bradley J. Nelsons team at ETH Zurich.
There are many methods to constructing microrobots with the objective of minimally invasive targeted accuracy treatment. The most popular of them is the ultra-fine 3D printing procedure known as the two-photon polymerization technique, which activates polymerization in synthetic resin by converging 2 lasers.
