Plenary lecture 5: “Bio-medical micro-nano robotics“

Bio-medical engineering attracts lots of attention in an aged society. Especially, micro-nano robotics plays an important role to supply advanced devices and equipments. For example, there is an increasing interest in miniaturization and integration of medical devices by MEMS/NEMS technologies. Recent progress enables us to build manipulators and mobile robots which can work in the body. For minimally invasive surgery, micro-nano robotic technology is indispensable. In the area of tissue engineering, micro-nano fabrication is essential to research cell morphology. Micro-nano fabrication technology is applied to fabricate scaffolds for tissue engineering[1] and to build medical human simulator. Another interest is in manipulation technology for works from millimeter to nanometer scale. In the area of livestock industry, cloning works will be made more efficient by on-chip manipulation of egg cells and donor cells[2]. By controlling local environment around the cell, we actively lead to chemical/physical interaction inside and outside the cell, and measure changes[3]–[5]. These works will contribute to elucidate the mechanism of the cell system, realize gene expression control, and regenerate tissue by function control with mechanical stimuli. Interdisciplinary research works between engineering, biological and medical fields are promoted. This talk will provide the state of the art of micro-nano robotics in biomedical field. New trends and future aspects will be addressed.