Medical micro- and nanomotors in the body

摘要

Attributed to the miniaturized body size and active mobility, micro-and nanomotors (MNMs) have demonstrated tremendous potential for medical applications. However, from bench to bedside, massive efforts are needed to address critical issues, such as cost-effective fabrication, on-demand inte-gration of multiple functions, biocompatibility, biodegradability, controlled propulsion and in vivo navi-gation. Herein, we summarize the advances of biomedical MNMs reported in the past two decades, with particular emphasis on the design, fabrication, propulsion, navigation, and the abilities of biological bar-riers penetration, biosensing, diagnosis, minimally invasive surgery and targeted cargo delivery. Future perspectives and challenges are discussed as well. This review can lay the foundation for the future di-rection of medical MNMs, pushing one step forward on the road to achieving practical theranostics using MNMs.

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