Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40632849›Full record

ArticleScience advances2025

Permanent magnetic droplet-derived microrobots.

Yuanxiong Cao, Ruoxiao Xie, Philipp W A Schönhöfer, Ross Burdis, Richard Wang, Rujie Sun, Kai Xie, Jiawen Zou, Xin Song, Qiao You Lau and 10 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Amphibious Movement of Microrobots Inspired by Water Spiders.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

20 authors.

Yuanxiong CaoDepartment of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Department of Engineering Science, Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-5078-6000
Ruoxiao XieDepartment of Materials, Department of Bioengineering and Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.ORCID 0009-0000-1000-8960
Philipp W A SchönhöferDepartment of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4397-2937
Ross BurdisDepartment of Materials, Department of Bioengineering and Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-8888-9251
Richard WangDepartment of Materials, Department of Bioengineering and Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
Rujie SunDepartment of Materials, Department of Bioengineering and Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
Kai XieDepartment of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Department of Engineering Science, Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-9090-8383
Jiawen ZouDepartment of Materials, Department of Bioengineering and Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
Xin SongDepartment of Materials, Department of Bioengineering and Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-4017-9685
Qiao You LauDepartment of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Department of Engineering Science, Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-1163-6958
Junliang LinDepartment of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Department of Engineering Science, Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK.ORCID 0009-0004-8011-4055
Jang Ah KimDepartment of Materials, Department of Bioengineering and Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-8569-5512
Dimitar GeorgievDepartment of Materials, Department of Bioengineering and Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
Jiyuan TangDepartment of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Department of Engineering Science, Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK.
Ho-Cheung NgDepartment of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Department of Engineering Science, Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-5171-1318
Olga BibikovaDepartment of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Department of Engineering Science, Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-1929-7698
Yuyang ZuoDepartment of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Department of Engineering Science, Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK.
Xiangrong L LuDepartment of Materials, Department of Bioengineering and Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.ORCID 0009-0007-7271-7405
Sharon C GlotzerDepartment of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7197-0085
Molly M StevensDepartment of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Department of Engineering Science, Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-7335-266X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Microrobots hold substantial potential for precision medicine. However, challenges remain in balancing multifunctional cargo loading with efficient locomotion and in predicting behavior in complex biological environments. Here, we present permanent magnetic droplet-derived microrobots (PMDMs) with superior cargo loading capacity and dynamic locomotion capabilities. Produced rapidly via cascade tubing microfluidics, PMDMs can self-assemble, disassemble, and reassemble into chains that autonomously switch among four locomotion modes-walking, crawling, swinging, and lateral movement. Their reconfigurable design allows navigation through complex and constrained biomimetic environments, including obstacle negotiation and stair climbing with record speed at the submillimeter scale. We also developed a molecular dynamics-based computational platform that predicts PMDM assembly and motion. PMDMs demonstrated precise, programmable cargo delivery (e.g., drugs and cells) with postdelivery retrieval. These results establish a physical and in silico foundation for future microrobot design and represent a key step toward clinical translation.

Indexed as

MagneticsMicrofluidicsRoboticsHumansMolecular Dynamics Simulation

Identifiers

PMID40632849
PMCPMC12239960

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.