The power and propulsion of medical microrobots

Abstract

This paper provides a detailed insight into the present-day state of medical microrobot technology and development on power and propulsion. Firstly,some of the critical aspects of medical microrobots design are considered and then the characteristic and application of the external field and other sources driving technology used in microrobots are introduced; finally some correlative technology problems and perspective in future are analyzed. This paper shows that medical microrobot developments are at an early stage and involve a disparate family of technologies and disciplines, such as MEMS, nanotechnology, biomimetics and hydrodynamics, and the critical design issues include power sources, propulsion and location, and many different schemes have been proposed. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.