Drug-enhanced unclogging motions of a double helical magnetic micromachine for vascular occlusive diseases

Abstract

We propose a novel double helical magnetic micromachine (DHMM) to achieve drug-enhanced unclogging abilities for occlusive vascular diseases (OVDs) in human blood vessels. The proposed DHMM can generate navigating and mechanical drilling motions actuated by an external rotating magnetic field (ERMF). It can also deliver a clot-busting drug to a target point (clogged area) and can precisely release the drug toward the clogged area. We derive rotational dynamic constraint equations for selective manipulation of the navigating, drug releasing, and mechanical drilling motions of the DHMM by controlling the ERMF. We then prototype the DHMM and demonstrate these motions to show the validity of the proposed DHMM and manipulation methods.