Development of a novel type of microrobot for biomedical application

This paper proposes a new type of microrobot that can move along a narrow area such as blood vessels which has great potential for application in microsurgery. Also, the development of a wireless microrobot that can be manipulated inside a pipe by adjusting an external magnetic field has been discussed. The model microrobot utilizes an electromagnetic actuator as the servo actuator to realize movement in biomedical applications. The structure, motion mechanism, and evaluation characteristic of motion of the microrobot have been discussed, and the directional control can be realized via the frequency of the input current. The moving experiments have been carried out in branching points in the horizontal direction, and the moving speed of the robot has been measured in vertical direction by changing frequency. Based on the results, the microrobot has a rapid response, and it can clear out dirt which is adhering to the inner wall of pipe. This microrobot will play an important role in both industrial and medical applications such as microsurgery.