ArticleScience advances2020
IRONSperm: Sperm-templated soft magnetic microrobots.
Article in Science advances, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 74 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
74 citing papers in PubMed.
- Habitat-Specific Design Strategies for Untethered Soft Robots.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- Micro/Nanorobots (MNRs) at the Intersection of Mechanobiology and Artificial Intelligence: An Emerging Frontier for Precision Nanomedicine.ACS nano medicine · 2026Review
- Amphibious Movement of Microrobots Inspired by Water Spiders.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Microrobots for Precision Diagnosis and Treatment in the Digestive System: A Review of Actuation Mechanisms, Structural Design, Preclinical and Translational Applications.Micromachines · 2026Review
- Programmable rotation of single cells along arbitrary axes via opto-thermo-osmotic torque.Light, science & applications · 2026Article
- Hydrogel-Based Micro/Nanorobots for Advanced Biomedical Applications.Gels (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Translational Application of Biomedical Microrobots in Female Reproductive System.ACS nano medicine · 2026Review
- Elucidating motion patterns in sperm cell motion with dynamic mode decomposition.Journal of biological physics · 2026Article
- Combining tethered and untethered magnetic robots via a magnetically triggerable latch for target payload delivery and retrieval.Science advances · 2026Article
- CAMP: Closed-Loop Acoustic-Magnetic Propulsion of Microrobots for Precision Cell Manipulation.Advanced intelligent systems (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2025Article
- Swarm coordination of fish-like magnetic soft robots: directed aggregation and shape-adaptive attachment toward efficient drug delivery.National science review · 2025Article
- Micro/Nanorobots for Combating Brain Disorders: Challenges, Advances, and Perspectives.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Review
- Kidney Stone Dissolution By Tetherless, Enzyme-Loaded, Soft Magnetic Miniature Robots.Advanced healthcare materials · 2025Article
- Design and control of a permanent magnet-based robotic system for navigating tetherless magnetic devices in viscous environments.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Cell-Based Drug Delivery Systems: Innovative Drug Transporters for Targeted Therapy.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Technology Roadmap of Micro/Nanorobots.ACS nano · 2025Review
- Nano-orchestrated magnetotactic-like navigation for electromagnetic theranostics and immune enhancement via photoautotrophic oxygenation, mild hyperthermia, and ferroptosis.Journal of nanobiotechnology · 2025Article
- Micro- and Nano-Bots for Infection Control.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2025Review
- Designing optimal elastic filaments for viscous propulsion.Soft matter · 2025Article
- Review
14 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
We develop biohybrid magnetic microrobots by electrostatic self-assembly of nonmotile sperm cells and magnetic nanoparticles. Incorporating a biological entity into microrobots entails many functional advantages beyond shape templating, such as the facile uptake of chemotherapeutic agents to achieve targeted drug delivery. We present a single-step electrostatic self-assembly technique to fabricate IRONSperms, soft magnetic microswimmers that emulate the motion of motile sperm cells. Our experiments and theoretical predictions show that the swimming speed of IRONSperms exceeds 0.2 body length/s (6.8 ± 4.1 µm/s) at an actuation frequency of 8 Hz and precision angle of 45°. We demonstrate that the nanoparticle coating increases the acoustic impedance of the sperm cells and enables localization of clusters of IRONSperm using ultrasound feedback. We also confirm the biocompatibility and drug loading ability of these microrobots, and their promise as biocompatible, controllable, and detectable biohybrid tools for in vivo targeted therapy.
Identifiers
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.