TY - JOUR
T1 - Real-Time Magnetic Navigation of a Rotating Colloidal Microswarm under Ultrasound Guidance
AU - Wang, Qianqian
AU - Yang, Lidong
AU - Yu, Jiangfan
AU - Chiu, Philip Wai Yan
AU - Zheng, Yong Ping
AU - Zhang, Li
N1 - Funding Information:
Manuscript received November 25, 2019; revised February 11, 2020 and March 8, 2020; accepted April 7, 2020. Date of publication April 16, 2020; date of current version November 20, 2020. This work was supported in part by the General Research Fund (GRF) with Project no. 14218516 from the Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong, in part by the ITF Projects with Project nos. ITS/231/15, MRP/036/18X, and ITS/374/18FP funded by the HKSAR Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC), and in part by the Impact Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. (Corresponding author: Li Zhang.) Qianqian Wang, Lidong Yang, and Jiangfan Yu are with the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Publisher Copyright:
© 1964-2012 IEEE.
PY - 2020/12
Y1 - 2020/12
N2 - Objective: Untethered microrobots hold great promise for applications in biomedical field including targeted delivery, biosensing, and microsurgery. A major challenge of using microrobots to perform in vivo tasks is the real-time localization and motion control using medical imaging technologies. Here we report real-time magnetic navigation of a paramagnetic nanoparticle-based microswarm under ultrasound guidance. Methods: A three-axis Helmholtz electromagnetic coil system integrated with an ultrasound imaging system is developed for generation, actuation, and closed-loop control of the microswarm. The magnetite nanoparticle-based microswarm is generated and navigated using rotating magnetic fields. In order to localize the microswarm in real time, the dynamic imaging contrast has been analyzed and exploited in image process to increase the signal-to-noise ratio. Moreover, imaging of the microswarm at different depths are experimentally studied and analyzed, and the minimal dose of nanoparticles for localizing a microswarm at different depths is ex vivo investigated. For real-time navigating the microswarm in a confined environment, a PI control scheme is designed. Results: Image differencing-based processing increases the signal-to-noise ratio, and the microswarm can be ex vivo localized at depth of 2.2-7.8 cm. Experimental results show that the microswarm is able to be real-time navigated along a planned path in a channel, and the average steady-state error is 0.27 mm (∼33.7% of the body length). Significance: The colloidal microswarm is real-time localized and navigated using ultrasound feedback, which shows great potential for biomedical applications that require real-time noninvasive tracking.
AB - Objective: Untethered microrobots hold great promise for applications in biomedical field including targeted delivery, biosensing, and microsurgery. A major challenge of using microrobots to perform in vivo tasks is the real-time localization and motion control using medical imaging technologies. Here we report real-time magnetic navigation of a paramagnetic nanoparticle-based microswarm under ultrasound guidance. Methods: A three-axis Helmholtz electromagnetic coil system integrated with an ultrasound imaging system is developed for generation, actuation, and closed-loop control of the microswarm. The magnetite nanoparticle-based microswarm is generated and navigated using rotating magnetic fields. In order to localize the microswarm in real time, the dynamic imaging contrast has been analyzed and exploited in image process to increase the signal-to-noise ratio. Moreover, imaging of the microswarm at different depths are experimentally studied and analyzed, and the minimal dose of nanoparticles for localizing a microswarm at different depths is ex vivo investigated. For real-time navigating the microswarm in a confined environment, a PI control scheme is designed. Results: Image differencing-based processing increases the signal-to-noise ratio, and the microswarm can be ex vivo localized at depth of 2.2-7.8 cm. Experimental results show that the microswarm is able to be real-time navigated along a planned path in a channel, and the average steady-state error is 0.27 mm (∼33.7% of the body length). Significance: The colloidal microswarm is real-time localized and navigated using ultrasound feedback, which shows great potential for biomedical applications that require real-time noninvasive tracking.
KW - closed-loop control
KW - co-llective behavior
KW - magnetic actuation
KW - Micro/nanorobots
KW - ultrasound imaging
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096508810&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/TBME.2020.2987045
DO - 10.1109/TBME.2020.2987045
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 32305888
AN - SCOPUS:85096508810
SN - 0018-9294
VL - 67
SP - 3403
EP - 3412
JO - IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering
JF - IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering
IS - 12
M1 - 9069192
ER -