Magnetopyroelectric Biomedical Microrobots

Ziel

Electrotherapies hold promise for diverse biomedical applications, including wound healing, pain relief, tissue regeneration, tumor ablation, inflammation reduction, and cell differentiation. However, current methods to deliver electric fields in the body often suffer from invasiveness, imprecise targeting and unintended side effects. To overcome these limitations, we propose PYROBOTS, a wireless microrobotic platform that leverages the magnetopyroelectric (MPE) effect to enable localized electrical stimulation without electrodes or internal power sources. The MPE effect arises from coupling magnetic nanostructures, which generate heat under alternating magnetic fields, with pyroelectric components that convert thermal fluctuations into electricity. This approach will allow for fully wireless, tunable, and precise electrostimulation. Drawing on expertise in nanomanufacturing, microrobotics, and magnetic actuation, PYROBOTS offers a minimally invasive, multifunctional nanosystem for targeted electrotherapies in anatomically constrained and clinically challenging environments. The ultimate goal of PYROBOTS is to demonstrate that small-scale microrobotic swarms built from MPE nanostructures can safely deliver electrotherapies within the sensitive neural environment of the spine. To explore the full therapeutic potential and boundaries of this approach, we will target two distinct clinical contexts: (1) spinal cord injury, using MPE-functionalized neuronal progenitor cells to promote neuronal differentiation and regeneration, and (2) spinal cord glioblastoma, using synthetic MPE nanoparticle swarms to induce electroporation and immune activation.