Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42075947›Full record

ReviewMolecules (Basel, Switzerland)2026

Nanorobotic Approaches Against Multidrug-Resistant Infections: Design, Principle, Mechanistic Innovation, Translational Challenges and Biomedical Applications.

Umair Sayad, Shafiq Ur Rahman, Atif Ali Khan Khalil, Abid Ullah, Shafi Ullah, Sultan Mehtap Büyüker

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. 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

6 authors.

Umair SayadDepartment of Pharmacy, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal 18050, Pakistan.
Shafiq Ur RahmanDepartment of Pharmacy, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal 18050, Pakistan.ORCID 0000-0002-0162-4478
Atif Ali Khan KhalilDepartment of Biotechnology, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 38541, Republic of Korea.
Abid UllahDepartment of Pharmacy, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal 18050, Pakistan.ORCID 0000-0003-1117-1246
Shafi UllahDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Superior University, Lahore 53700, Pakistan.
Sultan Mehtap BüyükerDepartment of Pharmaceutical Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Medipol University, Istanbul 34810, Turkey.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The efficacy of traditional antimicrobial treatments has been largely compromised due to the high occurrence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens, therefore underlining the limitations of existing drug delivery mechanisms. Pathogens resist pharmacological treatment via different mechanisms, including efflux pump overexpression, biofilm formation, and enzymatic destruction. The application of nanorobotics or controllable nanoscale devices has gained considerable attention for overcoming shortcomings while connecting biomedical engineering, materials science, and microbiology. Despite advancements in nanomedicine, there is still no suitable nanorobotic system applicable against MDR pathogens. Previous studies highlighted device categories and materials but did not explain the detailed nanorobotic mobility, sensing, and programmability to counteract biological resistance. This review combines cross-disciplinary discoveries to design a mechanistic and translational model for nanorobotics effective in controlling infectious diseases while focusing on the advancements in nanorobotic technologies over the past six years (2020-2025), with emphasis on translational readiness, biosafety issues, scalability, regulation, and their mechanistic ability to overwhelm MDR complications. Databases from different publishers, including PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, were used to select studies focusing on the potential of emerging nanorobotic therapeutic technologies, such as magnetic microrobots, catalytic nanoswimmers, and DNA origami nanodevices, and their application to bacterial biofilms and antibiotic drug delivery. Evidence from the literature shows that magnetically driven microrobots, catalytic nanoswimmers, and DNA origami structures can actively destroy biofilms, enhance antibiotic penetration, and perform site-specific antimicrobial administration. Nevertheless, most of these innovations remain in the preclinical or prototype stage, hindered by biosafety issues, immunological reactivity, poor routing precision, energy source optimization, and a lack of regulatory and ethical frameworks, which are major challenges for clinical translation.

Indexed as

Anti-Bacterial AgentsDrug Resistance, Multiple, BacterialNanomedicineRoboticsAnimalsDrug Delivery SystemsHumansNanotechnologyTranslational Research, BiomedicalAnti-Bacterial Agentsantimicrobial resistance (AMR)multidrug-resistance (MDR)nanoroboticsnanotechnology

Identifiers

PMID42075947
PMCPMC13119031

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.