GALCIT Colloquium

Millimeter-scale robots hold great promise for biomedical applications due to their remarkable shape-morphing capabilities. In this talk, I will present our recent advancements in millimeter-sized robots designed for medical applications. These robots leverage their thin-shell structures to enable a range of functionalities: 1) Providing internal cavities for drug storage; 2) Utilizing torsion-induced contraction as a pumping mechanism for controlled liquid medicine dispensing; 3) Acting as propellers that spin for propulsion to swim, exemplified by a device we call the milli-spinner.

As an example, I will highlight our recent development of the magnetic milli-spinner as a mechanical thrombectomy technology for treating acute ischemic stroke and brain aneurysms. The milli-spinner can easily navigate in complex and highly torturous vasculature, mechanically debulk and extract blood clots by significantly densifying the fibrin network, achieving a clot volume reduction to less than 10% of its initial size. This new clot debulking mechanism has demonstrated exceptional efficacy in both in vitro and in vivo pig studies.

In the second part of my talk, I will briefly explore how structural instability can be harnessed to create new functional origami designs for a variety of engineering applications