Nanorobotics in Medicine: A Systematic Review of Advances, Challenges, and Future Prospects

Nanorobotics offers an emerging frontier in biomedicine, holding the potential to revolutionize diagnostic and therapeutic applications through its unique capabilities in manipulating biological systems at the nanoscale. Following PRISMA guidelines, a comprehensive literature search was conducted using IEEE Xplore and PubMed databases, resulting in the identification and analysis of a total of 414 papers. The studies were filtered to include only those that addressed both nanorobotics and direct medical applications. Our analysis traces the technology's evolution, highlighting its growing prominence in medicine as evidenced by the increasing number of publications over time. Applications ranged from targeted drug delivery and single-cell manipulation to minimally invasive surgery and biosensing. Despite the promise, limitations such as biocompatibility, precise control, and ethical concerns were also identified. This review aims to offer a thorough overview of the state of nanorobotics in medicine, drawing attention to current challenges and opportunities, and providing directions for future research in this rapidly advancing field

Single-Cell Elasticity Measurement with an Optically Actuated Microrobot

A cell elasticity measurement method is introduced that uses polymer microtools actuated by holographic optical tweezers. The microtools were prepared with two-photon polymerization. Their shape enables the approach of the cells in any lateral direction. In the presented case, endothelial cells grown on vertical polymer walls were probed by the tools in a lateral direction. The use of specially shaped microtools prevents the target cells from photodamage that may arise during optical trapping. The position of the tools was recorded simply with video microscopy and analyzed with image processing methods. We critically compare the resulting Young's modulus values to those in the literature obtained by other methods. The application of optical tweezers extends the force range available for cell indentations measurements down to the fN regime. Our approach demonstrates a feasible alternative to the usual vertical indentation experiments

New Trends and Applications in Femtosecond Laser Micromachining

This book contains the scientific contributions to the Special Issue entitled: "New Trends and Applications in Femtosecond Laser Micromachining". It covers an array of subjects, from the basics of femtosecond laser micromachining to specific applications in a broad spectra of fields such biology, photonics and medicine

Nucleic Acid Architectures for Therapeutics, Diagnostics, Devices and Materials

Nucleic acids (RNA and DNA) and their chemical analogs have been utilized as building materials due to their biocompatibility and programmability. RNA, which naturally possesses a wide range of different functions, is now being widely investigated for its role as a responsive biomaterial which dynamically reacts to changes in the surrounding environment. It is now evident that artificially designed self-assembling RNAs, that can form programmable nanoparticles and supra-assemblies, will play an increasingly important part in a diverse range of applications, such as macromolecular therapies, drug delivery systems, biosensing, tissue engineering, programmable scaffolds for material organization, logic gates, and soft actuators, to name but a few. The current exciting Special Issue comprises research highlights, short communications, research articles, and reviews that all bring together the leading scientists who are exploring a wide range of the fundamental properties of RNA and DNA nanoassemblies suitable for biomedical applications