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Spermatozoa as Functional Components of Robotic Microswimmers
Author(s) -
Magdanz Veronika,
MedinaSánchez Mariana,
Schwarz Lukas,
Xu Haifeng,
Elgeti Jens,
Schmidt Oliver G.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201606301
Subject(s) - nanotechnology , biomimetic materials , biomimetics , materials science , nanorobotics , field (mathematics) , biochemical engineering , systems engineering , engineering , mathematics , pure mathematics
In recent years, the combination of synthetic micro‐ and nanomaterials with spermatozoa as functional components has led to the development of tubular and helical spermbots – microrobotic devices with potential applications in the biomedical and nanotechnological field. Here, the initial advances in this field are discussed and the use of spermatozoa as functional parts in microdevices elaborated. Besides the potential uses of these hybrid robotic microswimmers, the obstacles along the way are discussed, with suggestions for solutions of the encountered challenges also given.