Recent Advances in Microalgae Robots for Biomedical Applications

Microalgae robots are an emerging biohybrid microrobot that combines the biological properties of microalgae with microrobot technology and shows a wide range of applications in the medical field. In recent years, it has been found that microalgae are ideal biodriven carriers as they have good binding sites and unique properties such as motility, light responsiveness, and oxygen production. The natural substances inside microalgae also have certain medical value and can act synergistically with the exogenous drugs carried. This study provides an in-depth summary of the progress of research and application of microalgae robots in biomedicine over the past 3 years, with a view of providing new ideas for the fabrication and medical application of microalgae robots. This review first introduces the structure and properties of microalgae, which is the basis for the design of microalgae robots; second, it summarizes the formation and movement of microalgae robots, which are formed by functionalizing the surface of microalgae to form microalgae robots with various functions and driven to move in a directional manner by their own targeting ability and external means; the last and most important is it introduces the current research status of microalgae robot applications in drug delivery, targeted treatment of tumors and gastrointestinal inflammation, medical imaging, tissue regeneration, and other fields, as well as their advantages in terms of environmental friendliness, and the future prospects of microalgae robots in the field of biomedicine are also demonstrated.