Spermatozoa as Functional Components of Robotic Microswimmers.
In recent years, the combination of synthetic micro- and nanomaterials with spermatozoa as functional components has led to the development of tubular and helical spermbots - microrobotic devices with potential applications in the biomedical and nanotechnological field. Here, the initial advances in this field are discussed and the use of spermatozoa as functional parts in microdevices elaborated. Besides the potential uses of these hybrid robotic microswimmers, the obstacles along the way are discussed, with suggestions for solutions of the encountered challenges also given.
Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research, IFW Dresden e.V., Institute for Integrative Nanosciences, Helmholtzstrasse 20, 01069, Dresden, Germany.
Veronika
V
Magdanz
Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research, IFW Dresden e.V., Institute for Integrative Nanosciences, Helmholtzstrasse 20, 01069, Dresden, Germany.
Mariana
M
Medina-Sánchez
Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research, IFW Dresden e.V., Institute for Integrative Nanosciences, Helmholtzstrasse 20, 01069, Dresden, Germany.
Lukas
L
Schwarz
Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research, IFW Dresden e.V., Institute for Integrative Nanosciences, Helmholtzstrasse 20, 01069, Dresden, Germany.
Haifeng
H
Xu
Theoretical Soft Matter and Biophysics, Institute of Complex Systems (ICS-2), 52425, Jülich, Germany.
Jens
J
Elgeti
Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research, IFW Dresden e.V., Institute for Integrative Nanosciences, Helmholtzstrasse 20, 01069, Dresden, Germany.|Chemnitz University of Technology, Reichenhainer Str. 70, 09107, Chemnitz, Germany.|Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden, Dresden University of Technology, Würzburger Str. 46, 01187, Dresden, Germany.
Oliver G
OG
Schmidt
D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D049329:Nanostructures; D036103:Nanotechnology; D012371:Robotics; D013094:Spermatozoa
microhelixes; microrobotics; microswimmers; microtubes; spermatozoa