Imaging-guided bioresorbable acoustic hydrogel microrobots.

Micro- and nanorobots excel in navigating the intricate and often inaccessible areas of the human body, offering immense potential for applications such as disease diagnosis, precision drug delivery, detoxification, and minimally invasive surgery. Despite their promise, practical deployment faces hurdles, including achieving stable propulsion in complex in vivo biological environments, real-time imaging and localization through deep tissue, and precise remote control for targeted therapy and ensuring high therapeutic efficacy. To overcome these obstacles, we introduce a hydrogel-based, imaging-guided, bioresorbable acoustic microrobot (BAM) designed to navigate the human body with high stability.

Flexible Temperature Sensor with High Reproducibility and Wireless Closed-Loop System for Decoupled Multimodal Health Monitoring and Personalized Thermoregulation.

Temperature and pulse waves are two fundamental indicators of body health. Specifically, thermoresistive flexible temperature sensors are one of the most applied sensors. However, they suffer from poor reproducibility of resistivity; and decoupling temperature from pressure/strain is still challenging.

Bacterial outer membrane vesicle nanorobot.

Autonomous nanorobots represent an advanced tool for precision therapy to improve therapeutic efficacy. However, current nanorobotic designs primarily rely on inorganic materials with compromised biocompatibility and limited biological functions. Here, we introduce enzyme-powered bacterial outer membrane vesicle (OMV) nanorobots.

Autonomous Nanorobots as Miniaturized Surgeons for Intracellular Applications.

Artificial nanorobots have emerged as promising tools for a wide range of biomedical applications, including biosensing, detoxification, and drug delivery. Their unique ability to navigate confined spaces with precise control extends their operational scope to the cellular or subcellular level. By combining tailored surface functionality and propulsion mechanisms, nanorobots demonstrate rapid penetration of cell membranes and efficient internalization, enhancing intracellular delivery capabilities.

Magnetically Powered Immunogenic Macrophage Microrobots for Targeted Multimodal Cancer Therapy.

Motile microrobots open a new realm for disease treatment. However, the concerns of possible immune elimination, targeted capability and limited therapeutic avenue of microrobots constrain its practical biomedical applications. Herein, a biogenic macrophage-based microrobot loaded with magnetic nanoparticles and bioengineered bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMVs), capable of magnetic propulsion, tumor targeting, and multimodal cancer therapy is reported.

Autonomous metal-organic framework nanorobots for active mitochondria-targeted cancer therapy.

Nanorobotic manipulation to access subcellular organelles remains unmet due to the challenge in achieving intracellular controlled propulsion. Intracellular organelles, such as mitochondria, are an emerging therapeutic target with selective targeting and curative efficacy. We report an autonomous nanorobot capable of active mitochondria-targeted drug delivery, prepared by facilely encapsulating mitochondriotropic doxorubicin-triphenylphosphonium (DOX-TPP) inside zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) nanoparticles.

Pollen Typhae-Based Magnetic-Powered Microrobots toward Acute Gastric Bleeding Treatment.

Traditional Chinese herbal medicine (TCHM) is the naturally available pharmaceutical with millennia of evolution from ancient China, capable of a superior therapeutic index and minimized unwanted effects on the human body. This work presents a therapeutic microrobotic platform based on pollen typhae (PT), a typical type of TCHM, fabricated by coating porous PT microspheres with FeO nanoparticles (PT robots) via electrostatic adsorption. The PT robots exhibit effective and controllable motion in various biological media upon external magnetic control and, meanwhile, preserve the inherent hemostasis property of PT.

Centrifugal Spinning Enables the Formation of Silver Microfibers with Nanostructures.

Silver nanowires (AgNWs) have received much attention and application in transparent electrodes, wearable electronic devices, and sensors. The hope is for these nanowires to eventually replace the most commonly used transparent electrode material-indium tin oxide (ITO). However, electrospinning used for the preparation of AgNWs on a large scale is limited by its low productivity and high electric field, while the alcohol-thermal method is limited to mixing by-product silver nanoparticles in silver nanowires.

Magnetic-Powered Janus Cell Robots Loaded with Oncolytic Adenovirus for Active and Targeted Virotherapy of Bladder Cancer.

A unique robotic medical platform is designed by utilizing cell robots as the active "Trojan horse" of oncolytic adenovirus (OA), capable of tumor-selective binding and killing. The OA-loaded cell robots are fabricated by entirely modifying OA-infected 293T cells with cyclic arginine-glycine-aspartic acid tripeptide (cRGD) to specifically bind with bladder cancer cells, followed by asymmetric immobilization of Fe O nanoparticles (NPs) on the cell surface. OA can replicate in host cells and induce cytolysis to release the virus progeny to the surrounding tumor sites for sustainable infection and oncolysis.

Artificial photoactive chlorophyll conjugated vanadium carbide nanostructure for synergistic photothermal/photodynamic therapy of cancer.

Optically active nanostructures consisting of organic compounds and metallic support have shown great promise in phototherapy due to their increased light absorption capacity and high energy conversion. Herein, we conjugated chlorophyll (Chl) to vanadium carbide (VC) nanosheets for combined photodynamic/photothermal therapy (PDT/PTT), which reserves the advantages of each modality while minimizing the side effects to achieve an improved therapeutic effect. In this system, the Chl from Leptolyngbya JSC-1 extracts acted as an efficient light-harvest antenna in a wide NIR range and photosensitizers (PSs) for oxygen self-generation hypoxia-relief PDT.

Robust multifunctional superhydrophobic, photocatalytic and conductive fabrics with electro-/photo-thermal self-healing ability.

The fabrication of superhydrophobic and conductive fabrics that can conveniently and repeatedly restore the lost superhydrophobicity, caused by either the surface accumulation of trace organic contaminants or the chemical damage to surface components, remains challenging. Herein, we report a multifunctional superhydrophobic and conductive cotton fabric that integrates not only the photocatalytic activity for cleaning organic contaminants, but also the self-healing ability enabled by either electro-thermal or photo-thermal heating besides convection oven heating. The fabric was fabricated through the polydopamine (PDA)-assisted deposition of photocatalyst Ag/CdS and the subsequent thiol-Ag self-assembly.

VC Nanosheets as Dual-Functional Antibacterial Agents.

Antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains have been continuously increasing and becoming a supreme threat to public health globally. The nanoparticle-based photothermal treatment has emerged as a powerful tool to combat toxic bacteria. Photothermal agents (PTAs) with cost-effective and high photothermal conversion efficiency are highly desirable.

Multifunctional Metal-Organic Framework Exoskeletons Protect Biohybrid Sperm Microrobots for Active Drug Delivery from the Surrounding Threats.

Utilizing spermatozoa as the engine unit of robotic systems at a microscale has brought revolutionized inspirations and strategies to the biomedical community. However, the motility of sperms is impaired by the surrounding threats. For example, the antisperm antibody (AsA) can specifically bind with surface antigens on the sperm membrane and adversely affect their propulsion, hindering the operation of sperm-based microrobots in practical environments.

Multiple amplified microRNAs monitoring in living cells based on fluorescence quenching of MoB and hybridization chain reaction.

Imaging intracellular microRNAs (miRNAs) demonstrated an essential role in exposing their biological and pathological functions. However, the detection of sequence-specific miRNAs in living cells remains a key challenge. Herein, a facile amplified multiple intracellular miRNAs imaging platform was constructed based on MoB nanosheets (NSs) fluorescence (FL) quenching and hybridization chain reaction (HCR).

Quantitative accuracy in total-body imaging using the uEXPLORER PET/CT scanner.

Absolute quantification of regional tissue concentration of radioactivity in positron emission tomography (PET) is a critical parameter-of-interest across various clinical and research applications and is affected by a complex interplay of factors including scanner calibration, data corrections, and image reconstruction. The emergence of long axial field-of-view (FOV) PET systems widens the dynamic range accessible to PET and creates new opportunities in reducing scan time and radiation dose, delayed or low radioactivity imaging, as well as kinetic modeling of the entire human. However, these imaging regimes impose challenging conditions for accurate quantification due to constraints from image reconstruction, low count conditions, as well as large and rapidly changing radioactivity distribution across a large axial FOV.

Magnetic-Propelled Janus Yeast Cell Robots Functionalized with Metal-Organic Frameworks for Mycotoxin Decontamination.

Cell robots that transform natural cells into active platforms hold great potential to enrich the biomedical prospects of artificial microrobots. Here, we present Janus yeast cell microrobots (JYC-robots) prepared by asymmetrically coating FeO nanoparticles (NPs) and subsequent in situ growth of zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) on the surface of yeast cells. The magnetic actuation relies on the FeO NPs wrapping.

Durable superhydrophobic cotton fabrics prepared by surface-initiated electrochemically mediated ATRP of polyhedral vinylsilsesquioxane and subsequent fluorination via thiol-Michael addition reaction.

Fluorinated polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (F-POSS) is one of the most popular candidates at present for superhydrophobic coating. Because of its ultralow surface energy, F-POSS has usually been dissolved with expensive fluoro-solvents, and the melting temperature of F-POSS is not high (122-140 °C), which will cause its loss during use. So trying to polymerize/crosslink F-POSS molecules and/or directly graft F-POSS to substrate is important.

Enzyme-powered Janus platelet cell robots for active and targeted drug delivery.

Transforming natural cells into functional biocompatible robots capable of active movement is expected to enhance the functions of the cells and revolutionize the development of synthetic micromotors. However, present cell-based micromotor systems commonly require the propulsion capabilities of rigid motors, external fields, or harsh conditions, which may compromise biocompatibility and require complex actuation equipment. Here, we report on an endogenous enzyme-powered Janus platelet micromotor (JPL-motor) system prepared by immobilizing urease asymmetrically onto the surface of natural platelet cells.

Performance Evaluation of the uEXPLORER Total-Body PET/CT Scanner Based on NEMA NU 2-2018 with Additional Tests to Characterize PET Scanners with a Long Axial Field of View.

The world's first total-body PET scanner with an axial field of view (AFOV) of 194 cm is now in clinical and research use at our institution. The uEXPLORER PET/CT system is the first commercially available total-body PET scanner. Here we present a detailed physical characterization of this scanner based on National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) NU 2-2018 along with a new set of measurements devised to appropriately characterize the total-body AFOV.

Core@Satellite Janus Nanomotors with pH-Responsive Multi-phoretic Propulsion.

We report core@satellite Janus mesoporous silica-Pt@Au (JMPA) nanomotors with pH-responsive multi-phoretic propulsion. The JMPA nanomotors first undergo self-diffusiophoretic propulsion in 3.0 % H O due to the isolation of the Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) from the PtNPs layer.

Onion-like Multifunctional Microtrap Vehicles for Attraction-Trapping-Destruction of Biological Threats.

A multifunctional motile microtrap is developed that is capable of autonomously attracting, trapping, and destroying pathogens by controlled chemoattractant and therapeutic agent release. The onion-inspired multi-layer structure contains a magnesium engine core and inner chemoattractant and therapeutic layers. Upon chemical propulsion, the magnesium core is depleted, resulting in a hollow structure that exposes the inner layers and serves as structural trap.

Computer-Assisted Design of Environmentally Friendly and Light-Stable Fluorescent Dyes for Textile Applications.

Five potentially environmentally friendly and light-stable hemicyanine dyes were designed based on integrated consideration of photo, environmental, and computational chemistry as well as textile applications. Two of them were synthesized and applied in dyeing polyacrylonitrile (PAN), cotton, and nylon fabrics, and demonstrated the desired properties speculated by the programs. The computer-assisted analytical processes includes estimation of the maximum absorption and emission wavelengths, aquatic environmental toxicity, affinity to fibers, and photo-stability.

A Nanomotor-Based Active Delivery System for Intracellular Oxygen Transport.

Active transport of gas molecules is critical to preserve the physiological functions of organisms. Oxygen, as the most essential gas molecule, plays significant roles in maintaining the metabolism and viability of cells. Herein, we report a nanomotor-based delivery system that combines the fast propulsion of acoustically propelled gold nanowire nanomotors (AuNW) with the high oxygen carrying capacity of red blood cell membrane-cloaked perfluorocarbon nanoemulsions (RBC-PFC) for active intracellular delivery of oxygen.