Conical Hollow Microhelices with Superior Swimming Capabilities for Targeted Cargo Delivery

Abstract

Inspired by flagellate microorganisms in nature, the microhelix is considered as an ideal model for transportation in fluid environment with low Reynolds number. However, how to promote the swimming and loading capabilities of microhelices with controllable geometries remains challenging. In this study, a novel kind of conical hollow microhelices is proposed and a method is developed to rapidly fabricate these microhelices with controllable parameters by femtosecond vortex beams generated from spatial light modulation along helical scanning. Conical hollow microhelices with designable heights (H = 45-75 µm), diameters (D = 6-18 µm), pitch numbers (Pi = 2-4), taper angles (T = 0.1-0.6 rad), and pitch periods (ΔP = 10-30 µm) are efficiently fabricated. In addition, compared with straight microhelices, the forward swimming capability of conical microhelices increases by 50% and the lateral drift of the conical hollow microhelices is reduced by 70%. Finally, the capabilities of these conical hollow microhelices for nanocargo loading and release by the inner hollow core, as well as transportation of neural stem cells by the outer surface are demonstrated. This work provides new insights into faster and simultaneous transportation of multicargoes for hybrid drug delivery, targeted therapy, and noninvasive surgery in vivo.

Keywords: magnetic propulsion; microhelices; superior swimming capability; targeted delivery; two-photon polymerization.