Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • OUTLOOK

Miniature medical robots step out from sci-fi

Cartoon of a blood vessel in which tiny ships head towards a malignant invader

Illustration: Jan Kallwejt

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00859-0

This article is part of Nature Outlook: Robotics and artificial intelligence, an editorially independent supplement produced with the financial support of third parties. About this content.

References

  1. Ghosh, A. & Fischer, P. Nano Lett. 9, 2243–2245 (2009).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Wu, Z. et al. Sci. Adv. 4, eaat4388 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Gao, C. et al. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 11, 23392–23400 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Xu, H. et al. ACS Nano 12, 327–337 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Yan, X. et al. Sci. Robot. 2, eaaq1155 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Hortelao, A. C. et al. Sci. Robot. 6, eabd2823 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Gao, W. et al. ACS Nano 9, 117–123 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Felfoul, O. et al. Nature Nanotechnol. 11, 941–947 (2016).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Ye, Y. et al. Nano Lett. 21, 8086–8094 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Villa, K. et al. Cell Rep. Phys. Sci. 1, 100181 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Quick links