Ultra-soft microrobots for tumour penetration

SOFTINVADERS aims at advancing the technology readiness of the microrobots prototypes developed in the ERC-funded project CELLOIDS, paving the way to their future clinical translation.

In CELLOIDS, we have developed the first ultra-soft microrobots and observed that they can move through gaps narrower than their size under magnetic actuation.

The microrobots have a cell-like body consisting of a Giant Unilamellar Vesicle an aqueous liquid interior enclosed by a nanometres-thin membrane made of a phospholipid bilayer.

This allows them to deform substantially and even form thin protrusions, squeezing through narrow gaps and between obstacles.

Such ultra-soft microrobots have the potential to traverse body tissues, mimicking the interstitial migration of leukocytes. SOFTINVADERS will challenge our microrobots with the daunting task of penetrating a solid tumour. This could open new opportunities for administering anti-cancer therapeutics in situ.

The translation from research towards innovation will be achieved by addressing three main objectives: (i) enhancing the capabilities and magnetic actuation of our microrobots to make them suited to tumour infiltration; (ii) developing realistic in-vitro tumour models for the validation of microrobots; (iii) establishing a research collaboration with a clinical partner to guide the design of anti-cancer ultra-soft microrobots and define an innovation strategy.

If successful, SOFTINVADERS will provide a preliminary validation of tumour infiltration by synthetic magnetic microrobots.

This will represent the first innovation step towards the realisation of microrobots-enabled in-situ administration of anti-cancer therapies, potentially leading to improved therapeutic outcomes and better life quality for millions of patients worldwide.