Biology subjects

Dillinger, C.

Publications and source records attributed to Dillinger, C..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Bio-Inspired Ultrasound-Driven Ultrafast Soft Microgripper

Acoustically actuated soft matter offers potential for agile microscale manipulation, yet acoustic-soft matter interaction at the microscale remains poorly understood. Here, we explore the mechanism of ultrasound-soft matter interaction by developing a bio-inspired ultrasound-driven soft hydrogel microgripper. This exploration allows to delve deeper into the understanding of nonlinear dynamics, mode coupling, and energy transfer. The developed microgripper ([≤] 120 {micro}m) overcomes key challenges of existing grippers, including complex fabrication, reliance on additives or external wiring, rigid structures, slow or poorly controllable responses, and risks of sample damage or contamination. Interacting with acoustic actuation, soft microgrippers oscillate and deform, while adjusting acoustic parameters and microgrippers structures allows for programmable interactions. The optimized acoustic actuation of the soft microgripper enables precise, ultrafast ([~]2 ms) gripping and handling of distinct delicate objects. This work advances the integration of soft matter with acoustic actuation especially at the microscale, offering a versatile, reliable, and scalable solution for microrobotics, targeted drug delivery, and lab-on-a-chip applications. TeaserAcoustic-soft matter interaction validated on bio-inspired ultrasound-driven ultrafast soft microgrippers.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2025

Real-time Color Flow Mapping of Ultrasound Microrobots

Visualization and tracking of microrobots in real-time pose key challenges for surgical microrobotic systems, as existing imaging modalities like MRI, CT, and X-ray are unable to monitor microscale items with real-time resolution. Ultrasound imaging-guided drug administration represents a significant advancement in this respect, offering real-time visual feedback on invasive medical procedures. However, ultrasound imaging still faces substantial inherent limitations in spatial resolution and signal attenuation, which hinder extending this method to microrobot visualization. Here, we introduce an approach for visualizing individual microrobots in real-time with Color Flow Mapping ultrasound imaging, based on acoustically induced structural oscillations of the microrobot generating a pseudo-Doppler signal. This approach enables the simultaneous localization and activation of bubble-based microrobots using two ultrasound sources operating at distinct frequency bandwidths. Our successful capture of microrobots measuring 60-80 micrometers in diameter reveals the potential of real-time ultrasonic imaging at the microscale. One-sentence SummaryAdvancing ultrasound imaging for real-time, microscale visualization--a critical breakthrough for therapeutic microrobots.

bioengineering↗