(572j) Fabrication and Wireless Manipulation of Magnetic Erythrocyte-Based Micromotors

Erythrocytes are natural biomaterials that can be obtained directly from patients, modified, and used in active cell therapy through autologous transplantation, making them promising materials for micromotor design and personalized medicine. However, existing erythrocyte-based micromotors are limited, often relying on complex manufacturing methods or requiring complicated control mechanisms that use multiple external fields to achieve propulsion.^{[i],[ii],[iii]} Here we report a method for fabricating erythrocyte-based magnetic micromotors which can exhibit both swimming and rolling modes of motion driven by a single uniform rotating magnetic field. This propulsion strategy allows for precise control of micromotor motion in both bulk fluids and along interfaces via two modes of symmetry breaking. We investigate the step-out frequencies and translational velocities for both modes of motion. We also demonstrate the maneuverability of the RBC micromotors in buffer solutions via open-loop control. The maneuverability and kinematic properties presented by these micromotors, and the inherent biological properties of the underlying cells, make the erythrocyte-based micromotors promising active colloidal agents for biomedical applications.

[i] Wu, Zhiguang, et al. "Turning erythrocytes into functional micromotors." Acs Nano 8.12 (2014): 12041-12048.

[ii] Gao, Changyong, et al. "Red blood cell-mimicking micromotor for active photodynamic cancer therapy." ACS applied materials & interfaces 11.26 (2019): 23392-23400.

[iii] Hou, Kexin, et al. "A Multifunctional Magnetic Red Blood Cell-Mimetic Micromotor for Drug Delivery and Image-Guided Therapy." ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 14.3 (2022): 3825-3837.