Microrobotics is a recent field that is characterized by manipulation of objects with characteristic dimensions in the micrometer range (micromanipulation) as well as the design and fabrication of robotic agents in a similar size range (microrobots). Apart from various applications in industrial manufacturing, microrobotics has specifically emerged in the field of life sciences. Though the field is in its infancy, the developed technologies have the potential to revolutionize many aspects of bioengineering and medicine. For instance, tethered microrobotic assisted intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) significantly increased throughput and efficacy for in vitro fertilization. Tethered and untethered microrobotic strategies have been proposed to enable manipulation and characterization of single molecules, cells and engineered tissues in vitro. Untethered approaches involve a microrobotic device that is wirelessly maneuvered and used to locally apply mechanical and/or chemical stimuli to biosystems. Such wirelessly guided micro-or nanorobotic devices have been also proposed for biomedical treatments such as targeted drug delivery (TDD) in vivo. This dissertation presents wireless, magnetic micromanipulation of microand nanostructures for in vitro and in vivo studies. A magnetic control system, called the NanoMag, has been advanced to meet the requirements of biological applications. To allow for precise manipulation at forces down to the sub-piconewton range, an automated calibration procedure was established. Microfluidic experiments under magnetic control have been carried out for spheres, cylinders and helices as potential drug carriers in …
