Wearable auxiliary devices for visually impaired people are highly attractive research topics. Although many proposed wearable navigation devices can assist visually impaired people in obstacle avoidance and navigation, these devices cannot feedback detailed information about the obstacles or help the visually impaired understand the environment. In this paper, we proposed a wearable navigation device for the visually impaired by integrating the semantic visual SLAM (Simultaneous Localization And Mapping) and the newly launched powerful mobile computing platform. This system uses an Image-Depth (RGB-D) camera based on structured light as the sensor, as the control center. We also focused on the technology that combines SLAM technology with the extraction of semantic information from the environment. It ensures that the computing platform understands the surrounding environment in real-time and can feed it back to the visually impaired in the form of voice broadcast. Finally, we tested the performance of the proposed semantic visual SLAM system on this device. The results indicate that the system can run in real-time on a wearable navigation device with sufficient accuracy.

Magnetic microrobots are vital tools for targeted therapy, drug delivery, and micromanipulation on cells in the biomedical field. In this paper, we report an automated control and path planning method of magnetic microrobots based on computer vision. Spherical microrobots can be driven in the rotating magnetic field generated by electromagnetic coils. Under microscopic visual navigation, robust target tracking is achieved using PID–based closed–loop control combined with the Kalman filter, and intelligent obstacle avoidance control can be achieved based on the dynamic window algorithm (DWA) implementation strategy. To improve the performance of magnetic microrobots in trajectory tracking and movement in complicated environments, the magnetic microrobot motion in the flow field at different velocities and different distribution obstacles was investigated. The experimental results showed that the vision-based controller had an excellent performance in a complex environment and that magnetic microrobots could be controlled to move to the target position smoothly and accurately. We envision that the proposed method is a promising opportunity for targeted drug delivery in biological research.

The use of vibration and acoustic characteristics for micromanipulation has been prevalent in recent years. Due to high biocompatibility, non-contact operation, and relatively low cost, the micromanipulation actuated by the vibration-induced acoustic wave and streaming flow has been widely applied in the sorting, translating, rotating, and trapping of targets at the submicron and micron scales, especially particles and single cells. In this review, to facilitate subsequent research, we summarize the fundamental theories of manipulation driven by vibration-induced acoustic waves and streaming flow. These methods are divided into two types: actuated by the acoustic wave, and actuated by the steaming flow induced by vibrating geometric structures. Recently proposed representative vibroacoustic-driven micromanipulation methods are introduced and compared, and their advantages and disadvantages are summarized. Finally, prospects are presented based on our review of the recent advances and developing trends.

To assemble microobjects including biological cells quickly and precisely, a fully automated pick-and-place operation is applied. In micromanipulation in liquid, the challenges include strong adhesion forces and high dynamic viscosity. To solve these problems, a reliable manipulation system and special releasing techniques are indispensable. A microhand having dexterous motion is utilized to grasp an object stably, and an automated stage transports the object quickly. To detach the object adhered to one of the end effectors, two releasing methods—local stream and a dynamic releasing—are utilized. A system using vision-based techniques for the recognition of two fingertips and an object, as well automated releasing methods, can increase the manipulation speed to faster than 800 ms/sphere with a 100% success rate (N = 100). To extend this manipulation technique, 2D and 3D assembly that manipulates several objects is attained by compensating the positional error. Finally, we succeed in assembling 80–120 µm of microbeads and spheroids integrated by NIH3T3 cells.

The demand for a harmless noncontact trapping and transportation method in manipulation and measurement of biological micro objects waits to be met. In this paper, a novel micromanipulation method named “Hydrodynamic Tweezers” using the vortex induced by oscillating a single piezoelectric actuator is introduced. The piezoelectric actuator is set between a micropipette and a copper beam. Oscillating the actuator at a certain frequency causes the resonance of the copper beam and extend 1D straight oscillation of the piezoelectric actuator to 2D circular oscillation of the micropipette, which induces a micro vortex after putting the micropipette into fluid. The induced vortex featuring low pressure in its core area can trap the object nearby. A robotic micromanipulator is utilized to transport the trapped objects together with the micropipette. Experiments of trapping and transportation microbeads are carried out to characterize the key parameters. The results show that the trapping force can be controlled by adjusting peak-peak voltage of the sinusoidal voltage input into the piezoelectric actuator.

In recent decades, microfluidics have significantly advanced nerve regeneration research. Microfluidic devices can provide an accurate simulation of in vivo microenvironment for different research purposes such as analyzing myelin growth inhibitory factors, screening drugs, assessing nerve growth factors, and exploring mechanisms of neural injury and regeneration. The microfluidic platform offers technical supports for nerve regeneration that enable precise spatio-temporal control of cells, such as neuron isolation, single-cell manipulation, neural patterning, and axon guidance. In this paper, we review the development and recent advances of microfluidic platforms for nerve regeneration research.