Microbubbles Make Big Impact
Tuesday, November 22, 2016 - 11:31
in Physics & Chemistry
The quest to develop a wireless micro-robot for biomedical applications requires a small-scale "motor" that can be wirelessly powered through biological media. While magnetic fields can be used to power small robots wirelessly, they do not provide selectivity since all actuators (the components controlling motion) under the same magnetic field just follow the same motion. To address this intrinsic limitation of magnetic actuation, a team of German researchers has developed a way to use microbubbles to provide the specificity needed to power micro-robots for biomedical applications.