Microrobots hold substantial potential for precision medicine. However, challenges remain in balancing multifunctional cargo loading with efficient locomotion and in predicting behavior in complex biological environments. Here, we present permanent magnetic droplet–derived microrobots (PMDMs) with superior cargo loading capacity and dynamic locomotion capabilities. Produced rapidly via cascade tubing microfluidics, PMDMs can self-assemble, disassemble, and reassemble into chains that autonomously switch among four locomotion modes—walking, crawling, swinging, and lateral movement. Their reconfigurable design allows navigation through complex and constrained biomimetic environments, including obstacle negotiation and stair climbing with record speed at the submillimeter scale. We also developed a molecular dynamics–based computational platform that predicts PMDM assembly and motion. PMDMs demonstrated precise, programmable cargo delivery (e.g., drugs and cells) with postdelivery retrieval. These results establish a physical and in silico foundation for future microrobot design and represent a key step toward clinical translation.

Matching pairs of tumor and non-tumor kidney tissue samples of four patients were investigated ex vivo using a combination of two methods, attenuated total reflection mid infrared spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy, through respectively prepared and adjusted fiber probes. In order to increase the data information content, the measurements on tissue samples in both methods were performed in the same 31 preselected positions. Multivariate data analysis revealed a synergic effect of combining the two methods for the diagnostics of kidney tumor compared to individual techniques.

Cancers of the abdominal cavity comprise one of the most prevalent forms of cancers, with the highest contribution from colon and rectal cancers (12% of the human population), followed by stomach cancers (4%). Surgery, as the preferred choice of treatment, includes the selection of adequate resection margins to avoid local recurrences due to minimal residual disease. The presence of functionally vital structures can complicate the choice of resection margins. Spectral analysis of tissue samples in combination with chemometric models constitutes a promising approach for more efficient and precise tumour margin identification. Additionally, this technique provides a real-time tumour identification approach not only for intraoperative application but also during endoscopic diagnosis of tumours in hollow organs. The combination of near-infrared and mid-infrared spectroscopy has advantages compared to individual methods for the clinical implementation of this technique as a diagnostic tool.

Optical detection techniques based on surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and capable of providing relevant information on molecular and protein composition of biological samples, are gaining rising attention in clinical research as alternatives to traditional detection assays. Meanwhile, due to the technological advances in compact instrumentation as well as in nanofabrication processes, SERS probes based on portable guided-wave systems, have been implemented thus providing for easier accessibility into complex environments and enabling for real-time in situ detection of low concentrated target analytes. In the present study, low-cost fabrication processes were successfully combined with surface functionalization strategies for the fabrication of disposable SERS-active substrates, engineered to tightly fit the distal end of portable Raman instruments. Being based on a polymer casting fabrication process, the overall design of the substrates can be easily adapted to the varied geometry of the probes to be fit, thus guaranteeing high design versatility. SERS-functionality was achieved by immobilization of gold nanoparticles whose size and shape directly affect the plasmonic properties of the substrates. Moreover, SERS substrates can be further modified by covalently binding molecules acting as baits to selectively fish target biomarkers within heterogeneous samples thereby increasing the specificity of SERS signals. Finally, these sensors represent a powerful tool potentially implementable for the early diagnosis of widespread pathologies by real-time SERS analysis of liquid biopsy.