In addition to treating cancer tumors, microrobots could make eye treatments less invasive and more precise because clinicians could guide microrobots to the exact spot needing treatment rather than injecting medicine into the eyeball. Presurgery imaging could be safer using microrobots to carry contrast agents. And complex brain surgeries could be less invasive.

“Microrobots also hold promise for complex brain surgeries,” said Ian Lee, neurosurgeon at Henry Ford Health and one of the study’s co-authors. “They offer a less invasive way to navigate delicate brain structures in humans. Less invasiveness means faster recovery for patients. Additionally, microrobots could make many current procedures less painful.”

Devices this small require extreme accuracy to benefit patient care and biological research. MSU researchers fabricated the TriMag microrobots using a high-precision three-dimensional printer in the IQ 3D Printing Core.