Enhanced locomotive and drilling microrobot using precessional and gradient magnetic field

We propose a new electromagnetic actuation (EMA) system for an intravascular microrobot with steering, locomotion and drilling functions. The EMA system consists of 3 pairs of Helmholtz coil and 1 pair of Maxwell coil. Generally. Helmholtz coils can align a microrobot in a desired direction by generating a uniform magnetic flux. If the uniform magnetic field generated by Helmholtz coils can be rotated, a microrobot with Helmholtz coils can also be rotated. On the other hand, a Maxwell coil, which generates a constant gradient magnetic flux, can supply the propulsion force for the microrobot. A microrobot actuated by the proposed EMA system has a spiral shaped body containing two magnets with different magnetization directions. With the proposed EMA system, the microrobot can move to the target region and perform drilling there by the precessional magnetic field of the Helmholtz coil pairs. The propulsion force for the microrobot is produced by the gradient magnetic field generated by the Maxwell coil pair. The moving velocity and the drilling performance of the microrobot can be increased by the propulsion force of the Maxwell coil pair. Through various tests, the feasibility and enhancement of the microrobot actuated by the proposed EMA system were verified. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.