Magnetic Soft Millirobots 3D Printed by Circulating Vat Photopolymerization to Manipulate Droplets Containing Hazardous Agents for In Vitro Diagnostics

3D printing via vat photopolymerization (VP) is a highly promising approach for fabricating magnetic soft millirobots (MSMRs) with accurate miniature 3D structures; however, magnetic filler materials added to resin either strongly interfere with the photon energy source or sediment too fast, resulting in the nonuniformity of the filler distribution or failed prints, which limits the application of VP. To this end, a circulating vat photopolymerization (CVP) platform that can print MSMRs with high uniformity, high particle loading, and strong magnetic response is presented. After extensive characterization of materials and 3D printed parts, it is found that SrFe12O19 is an ideal magnetic filler for CVP and can be printed with 30% particle loading and high uniformity. By using CVP, various tethered and untethered MSMRs are 3D printed monolithically and demonstrate the capability of reversible 3D-to-3D transformation and liquid droplet manipulation in 3D, an important task for in vitro diagnostics that are not shown with conventional MSMRs. A fully automated liquid droplet handling platform that manipulates droplets with MSMR is presented for detecting carbapenem antibiotic resistance in hazardous biosamples as a proof of concept, and the results agree with the benchmark.

Automated summary

By utilizing a circulating vat photopolymerization platform, magnetic soft millirobots (MSMRs) with high magnetic response can be 3D printed with high accuracy, showcasing their reversible 3D-to-3D transformation and liquid droplet manipulation capabilities, broadening their application in in vitro diagnostics.