Synthetic and living micropropellers support convection-enhanced nanoparticle transport

Nanoparticles (NPs) are a promising platform for drug delivery to treat a variety of diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease and inflammation. Yet the efficiency of NP transfer to the diseased tissue of interest is limited due to an assortment of physiological barriers. One significant hurdle is the transport of NPs to precisely reach the target tissue of interest. In a recent study, S. Schuerle and a team of interdisciplinary researchers at the departments of Translational Medicine, Biophysics, Engineering Robotics, Nanomedicine and Electronics, in Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S. developed two distinct microrobot-based micro-propellers to address the challenge.