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Many current and proposed retinal procedures are at the limits of human performance and perception. Microrobots that can navigate the fluid in the interior of the eye have the potential to revolutionize the way the most difficult retinal procedures are conducted. Microrobots are typically envisioned as miniature mechatronic systems that utilize MEMS technology to incorporate sensing and actuation onboard. This chapter presents a simpler alternative approach for the development of intraocular microrobots consisting of magnetic platforms and functional coatings. Luminescence dyes immobilized in coatings can be excited and read wirelessly to detect analytes or physical properties. Drug coatings can be used for diffusion-based delivery, and may provide more efficient therapy than microsystems containing pumps, as diffusion dominates over advection at the microscale. Oxygen sensing for diagnosis and drug therapy for retinal vein occlusions are presented as example applications. Accurate sensing and therapy requires precise control to guide the microrobot in the interior of the human eye. We require an understanding of the possibilities and limitations in wireless magnetic control. We also require the ability to visually track and localize the microrobot inside the eye, while obtaining clinically useful retinal images. Each of these topics is discussed.

We demonstrate five-degree-of-freedom (5-DOF) wireless magnetic control of a fully untethered microrobot with a magnetic steering system we call OctoMag. Although only occupying a single hemisphere, this system is capable of isotropically applying forces on the order of 1–40 µN with unrestricted control of the 2 orienting DOF. These capabilities are enabled through the use of soft-magnetic-cores which provide an increase of approximately 20× that of air cores in magnetic-field strength, but comes at the cost of more complicated interactions between coils. We propose a modeling mechanism that assumes the field contributions of the individual currents superimpose linearly when using cores with large linear regions and negligible hysteresis. When designing the system, the locations and quantity of electromagnets were optimized with regards to the force generation in the worst-case direction predicted by the model. The resultant system is capable of both open and closed-loop operation over a workspace of 4 cm3. OctoMag was primarily designed for the control of intraocular microrobots for delicate retinal procedures, but also has potential uses in other medical applications or micromanipulation under an optical microscope.

Microrobots experience physical phenomena that are difficult to model analytically and that are not completely captured with macro-scale prototypes. In this paper we present a reconfigurable robotic measurement system to characterize the magnetic and hydrodynamic properties of assembled-MEMS microrobots. The system consists of a powerful permanent magnet that is position controlled with a linear stage. The magnetic field is accurately characterized. Precision sensors are used to measure magnetic force as a function of applied field. The system is first used to validate an existing model for the magnetic force on a soft-magnetic ellipsoid. Next, the magnetic force on a soft-magnetic assembled-MEMS microrobot as a function of the applied field is measured experimentally. Finally, a vision tracking system is integrated with the setup to measure the hydrodynamic properties of the microrobot. The coefficient of viscous friction for the microrobot is obtained experimentally.