Table 1.
In-vivo applications of micro/nanorobots divided into the power source, robotic design, animal model, and function.
| Power source | Robotic design (dimension) | In vivo animal model (location) | Function | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biohybrid | L. monocytogenes streptavidin-polystyreneNP (1 μm) | Mouse(intra-peritoneal cavity) | Targeted payload delivery for monitoring gene expression using fluorescence imaging | Akin et al., 2007 |
| S. typhimurium funtionalzied μ-particle (3 μm) | Mouse(circulatory system, thigh, tail vein). | Imaging of tumor site using fluorescence imaging | Park et al., 2013 | |
| S. Typhimurium Engineered bacteria (1.2 μm) | Mouse(colon) | Controlled delivery and localized production of α-emolysin E (pore-forming toxin) against tumor | Din et al., 2016 | |
| Magnetococcus marinu/MC-1 receptor (2 μm) | Mouse(peritumoral region) | Targeting hypoxic tumor regions | Felfoul et al., 2016 | |
| Chemical | Zn microrocket (15 μm) | Mouse (stomach) | Retention of cargo in the stomach | Gao et al., 2015 |
| CaCO3 Janus NP (10 μm) | Mouse (tail, liver)Pig (femoral artery) | Stop bleeding | Baylis et al., 2015 | |
| Mg microrocket/enteric coating (15 μm) | Mouse(gastrointestinal tract) | Targeted retention of cargo in different parts of the gastrointestinal tract | Li et al., 2016 | |
| Mg /Au /enteric coating Janus (20 μm) | Mouse (stomach) | Temporal neutralization of gastric acid and triggered payload release | Li et al., 2017b | |
| Mg TiO2 Janus NP (20 μm) | Mouse (stomach) | Pill to deliver large amount of microrobots | Karshalev et al., 2018 | |
| Mg/TiO2/Chitosan Janus NP (20 μm) | Mouse (stomach) | H. pylori infection targeted therapy | Esteban-Fernández de Ávila et al., 2017b | |
| Physical | Polymeric griper (300 μm) | Pig(biliary tree, bile duct) | Tissue biopsy | Gultepe et al., 2012 |
| Magnetic microrod (300 μm diameter) | Rabbit(eye) | Intraocular navigation | Ullrich et al., 2013; Pokki et al., 2016 | |
| Ni Magnetic rod (300 nm x 2 μm) | Mouse (femoral vessels, brain) | Acceleration of thrombolysis | Cheng et al., 2014 Hu et al., 2018 | |
| Helical structures (20 μm) | Mouse (intra-peritoneal cavity) | Controlled navigation and localization using optical imaging | Servant et al., 2015 | |
| PEM–magnetite–gold Janus NP 5 μm | Mouse(skin) | Infrared laser-assisted tissue welding | He et al., 2016 | |
| Spirulina microalgae magnetized 100 nm Fe3O4 | Mouse (subcutaneous tissue, intraperitoneal cavity, stomach) | Controlled navigation and localization using optical and magnetic imaging | Yan et al., 2017 | |
| FePd nanorod (300 nm x 4 μm) | Mouse(subcutaneous tissue) | Targeted delivery and triggered activation of fluorouracil | Hoop et al., 2018 | |
| Burr-like porous sphere (50 μm) | Mouse(left dorsum) | Transport and delivery of cell cultures | Li et al., 2018 |