ArticleScience advances2018
A swarm of slippery micropropellers penetrates the vitreous body of the eye.
Article in Science advances, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 145 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
145 citing papers in PubMed, 555 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Photothermal Transport for Guiding Nanoparticles Through the Vitreous Humor.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Enzymatic microbubble robots.Nature nanotechnology · 2026Article
- Gear-like MOF microrobots for single cell mechanotransduction of microvilli.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Emergent Synchronization and Self-Organization of Autonomous Nanospinners.Nano letters · 2026Article
- Advances of Intraocular Fluid for the Application and Treatment of Uveitis.Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Review
- Hybrid-Driven Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Carrier for Targeted Immuno-Chemo Combo Therapy in Bladder Cancer.Cyborg and bionic systems (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Article
- Glucose-Powered Ultrasmall Chemotactic Nanorobots for Retinal Degeneration Treatment.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2025Article
- Swarm coordination of fish-like magnetic soft robots: directed aggregation and shape-adaptive attachment toward efficient drug delivery.National science review · 2025Article
- TriMag Microrobots: 3D-Printed Microrobots for Magnetic Actuation, Imaging, and Hyperthermia.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2025Article
- Transport of Adoptive Cell Transfers With Magnetic Helical Microrobots.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2025Article
- Directed Self-Assembly of Magnetic Bioceramic Deep Inside Dentinal Tubules May Alleviate Dental Hypersensitivity.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Magnetically Controllable and Degradable Milliscale Swimmers as Intraocular Drug Implants.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- A Magnetically Transformable Twisting Millirobot for Cargo Delivery at Low Reynolds Number.Advanced intelligent systems (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2025Article
- A roadmap for next-generation nanomotors.Nature nanotechnology · 2025Review
- Real-time color flow mapping of ultrasound microrobots.Science advances · 2025Article
85 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The intravitreal delivery of therapeutic agents promises major benefits in the field of ocular medicine. Traditional delivery methods rely on the random, passive diffusion of molecules, which do not allow for the rapid delivery of a concentrated cargo to a defined region at the posterior pole of the eye. The use of particles promises targeted delivery but faces the challenge that most tissues including the vitreous have a tight macromolecular matrix that acts as a barrier and prevents its penetration. Here, we demonstrate novel intravitreal delivery microvehicles-slippery micropropellers-that can be actively propelled through the vitreous humor to reach the retina. The propulsion is achieved by helical magnetic micropropellers that have a liquid layer coating to minimize adhesion to the surrounding biopolymeric network. The submicrometer diameter of the propellers enables the penetration of the biopolymeric network and the propulsion through the porcine vitreous body of the eye over centimeter distances. Clinical optical coherence tomography is used to monitor the movement of the propellers and confirm their arrival on the retina near the optic disc. Overcoming the adhesion forces and actively navigating a swarm of micropropellers in the dense vitreous humor promise practical applications in ophthalmology.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.