inproceedings by Antoine Ferreira
This paper describes the propulsion of the catalytic tubular microjet using Navier-Stokes equatio... more This paper describes the propulsion of the catalytic tubular microjet using Navier-Stokes equations. Especially, the thrust capability of the microjet is outstanding compared with the other microsystems, but remains only partially understood. Studies have identified the internal precursory mechanisms of the propulsion of the microjet: its inner wall catalyzes the dismutation of aqueous hydrogen peroxide, and an oxygen bubble is then formed. Since the jet is conical, the bubble migrates towards its widest opening. This impulses the propulsion of the microjet towards the opposite direction. However, the precise propellant role of the liquid surrounding the jet remains misunderstood. The same goes for the inner wall of the vessel in which the jet navigates, especially in narrowed environment. This article discusses these aspects in a simplified theoretical framework. Calculations are performed by explicit computation of Navier-Stokes equations. The obtained theoretical results are in good agreement with experimental results in the literature.
Papers by Antoine Ferreira
Advanced Materials Technologies, 2018
The last decade has seen the rapid development of untethered mobile micro‐ and nanorobots able to... more The last decade has seen the rapid development of untethered mobile micro‐ and nanorobots able to navigate liquids by means of external power sources or by harvesting chemicals from their surrounding media. These tiny devices hold great promise for applications in the biomedical field including targeted drug delivery, localized diagnostics, microsurgery, and cell stimulation. However, to translate small‐scale robots from the laboratory to the clinic, many challenges remain. A major obstacle is the lack of imaging technologies that will allow for precise tracking of the devices in vivo. Here, the current progress, challenges, and future possibilities in the monitoring and tracking of biomedical micro‐ and nanomachines using established as well as less conventional imaging technologies are reviewed.
Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, Jun 1, 2022
This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the ad... more This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
2022 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), May 23, 2022
Micro-scale robots introduce great prospective into many different medical applications such as t... more Micro-scale robots introduce great prospective into many different medical applications such as targeted drug delivery, minimally invasive surgery and localized bio-metric diagnostics. This research presents a method for object detection and tracking system of a chain-like magnetic microsphere robots using ultrasound imaging in an in-vitro environment. The method estimates the position of the microrobot in realtime using deep learning techniques. The experiments showed that a spherical microrobot with about 500 m in diameter can be detected and tracked in real-time with a high accuracy in dynamic environments. The results exhibit a high detection and tracking accuracy for one, two and three sphere microrobots with the highest accuracy in detection and tracking around 95 % and 93% respectively.
IEEE robotics and automation letters, Jun 1, 2023
Elsevier eBooks, 2012
Abstract: A magnetic resonance imaging system is described for (MRi) navigation of microrobots fo... more Abstract: A magnetic resonance imaging system is described for (MRi) navigation of microrobots for targeted therapy in cardiovascular systems. the software architecture of the robotic platform is presented, the MRi constraints are discussed, and a linear model of the microrobotic system is examined for navigating in vessels. A navigation path planning method is presented, which has ferromagnetic imaging recognition, and ferromagnetic tracking. Microrobot control is discussed and multiple simulation results are presented.
The magnetic microrobot have the potential to assist surgeon to perform precision medical procedu... more The magnetic microrobot have the potential to assist surgeon to perform precision medical procedures by using electromagnetic actuation (EMA) system. Various EMA system can provide desired magnetic field and gradient for the locomotion control of magnetized microrobot. Investigation of the performance of EMA system is reported to effectively select specific application. The paper evaluates EMA configurations consisting of the classical coils such as Helmholtz coils, Maxwell coils and saddle coils; and also studies systems with electromagnets. The considered EMA systems are evaluated with respect to computational electromagnetics performances and structure design. Applications for the suitable EMA system are also discussed.
Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 2021
This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the ad... more This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
IEEE Transactions on Control Systems and Technology, Nov 1, 2022
This study theoretically investigates the modeling of spherical catalytic self-phoretic magnetic ... more This study theoretically investigates the modeling of spherical catalytic self-phoretic magnetic Janus microrobot (MJR) evolving in uniform viscous flow. A 2-D state-space representation of the MJR is developed, exhibiting a state-dependent-coefficient (SDC) form. To evaluate the consistency of the modeling formalism, a dual Kalman filter (DKF) methodology is employed with respect to experimental results when unknown parameters or uncontrollable inputs are considered. In fact, the self-phoretic thrust mechanism and the magnetodynamics of the MJR are not well-known. SDC-DKF is implemented, and we find that there is good agreement between the dynamics computed from our theoretical predictions and the experimental observations in a wide range of model parameter variations.
Micromachines
The aim of this study was to design a multipole-electromagnet robotic platform named OctoRob. Thi... more The aim of this study was to design a multipole-electromagnet robotic platform named OctoRob. This platform provides a minimally invasive means for targeted therapeutic interventions in specific intraocular areas. OctoRob is capable of generating both appropriate magnetic fields and gradients. The main scientific objectives were: (i) To propose an optimal reconfigurable arrangement of electromagnets suitable for ophthalmic interventions. (ii) To model, design and implement a one-degree-of-freedom robotic arm connected with an electromagnet in order to optimize the generation of magnetic fields and gradients. (iii) To evaluate the magnetic performances of the OctoRob platform, including different tilted angles. The results show that OctoRob platform has great potential to be applied for ophthalmic surgery.
2019 International Symposium on Medical Robotics (ISMR)
Magnetic manipulations of microrobots are a promising solution to improve common biomedical appli... more Magnetic manipulations of microrobots are a promising solution to improve common biomedical applications, and in particular, ophthalmic minimally invasive surgery (MIS). To achieve this goal a key issue still relies on the design of a suitable electromagnetic actuation (EMA) platform. The study of improving the EMA system is the scope of this paper. The investigated EMA testbed comprises four static and four independent moving electromagnets, firstly devoted to delicate retinal procedures with intraocular microrobots. Specifically, the mobile coils are set into rotation thanks to robotic arms. Analyses and simulations are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the additional robotic arms. The results show that the robotized EMA system increases the versatility of the classical magnetic manipulation system and improves their flexibility.
2017 International Conference on Manipulation, Automation and Robotics at Small Scales (MARSS), 2017
This paper analyses the motion control of two magnetic microrobots in the microfluidic channel fo... more This paper analyses the motion control of two magnetic microrobots in the microfluidic channel for future drug targeting applications. To transport the drugs, it is necessary to inject and control the motion of multiple therapeutic magnetic microrobots using magnetic gradients. The main difficulty is to control a group of different therapeutic microrobots at desired states, despite the presence of interaction forces between microrobots. To overcome this issue, the solution is to consider two rather spaced microrobots which are controlled along the x-axis using magnetic gradients and an oscillatory magnetic field. This magnetic interaction force is expressed based on a dipoledipole interaction model and dynamic modeling of two magnetic microrobots. The oscillatory magnetic field is used to overcome the surface forces between microrobots and microfluidic walls. Finally, an experimental investigation is carried out in a simple channel under the presence of the magnetic field and magnetic gradient forces in order to analyze the motion control of two magnetic microrobots using the combination of magnetic gradient and oscillatory magnetic fields. Also, we will assess the prevalence of the magnetic interaction forces between two microrobots.
2019 IEEE 58th Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), 2019
Most of minimally invasive therapeutic applications demand to control multiple microrobots. If su... more Most of minimally invasive therapeutic applications demand to control multiple microrobots. If such microrobots are actuated by a magnetic device whose magnetic field is stationary, like magnetic resonance imaging devices, there is only a single control input per axis so the system is underactuated. Besides, imaging provides only a poor information about the robots state. That is the reason why it is necessary to synthesize observers to rebuild enough information to enable the stabilization of the two-agent system along a reference trajectory. This work addresses the observability and output feedback synthesis for two microrobots facing the blood flow. We propose two observers syntheses depending on the available output of the system: a Luenberger observer if the imaging provides the position of each robot, and a high gain observer if magnetic artifacts only allow for a measurement of a single linear combination of the robots positions. The output feedback is then designed using an exact feedback linearization approach. Simulations illustrate the efficiency of the proposed approach for both observers.
Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, 2018
This paper describes the propulsion of the catalytic tubular microjet in confined environments as... more This paper describes the propulsion of the catalytic tubular microjet in confined environments as microchannels and capillaries using the Stokes equations. Especially, the thrust capability of the microjet is outstanding compared with the other microsystems, but remains only partially understood. Studies have identified the internal precursory mechanisms of the propulsion of the microjet: its inner wall catalyzes the dismutation of the fuel, and bubbles are then formed. Since the jet is conical, the bubble migrates towards its widest opening. This impulses the propulsion of the microjet towards the opposite direction. However, the precise propellant role of the liquid surrounding the jet remains misunderstood. The same goes for the inner wall of the vessel in which the jet navigates, especially in narrowed environment. This article discusses these aspects in a simplified theoretical framework. Calculations are performed by explicit computation of the Stokes equations. The obtained theoretical results are in good agreement with experimental results reported in the literature.
IEEE Systems Journal, 2019
Multi-microagent systems are appealing to perform targeted therapy, biosensing and diagnosis. How... more Multi-microagent systems are appealing to perform targeted therapy, biosensing and diagnosis. However on most magnetic platforms, the magnetic field is stationary so all the robots experience the same control input, resulting in an underactuated system. However, to date, the controllability of underactuated microsystems had hardly been addressed. This paper thus investigates the system local controllability. This result highlights the necessity for the agents to operate in close vicinity to achieve trajectory tracking along an admissible reference trajectory whose choice is discussed. We then propose a backstepping controller to locally stabilize the nonlinear system. Simulations illustrate this approach efficiency and limitations for different designs of the microrobotic system.
IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 2017
The paper addresses the 2D observer-based control of a magnetic microrobot navigating in a cylind... more The paper addresses the 2D observer-based control of a magnetic microrobot navigating in a cylindrical blood vessel along a reference trajectory. In particular, this robot faces the nonlinear drag force induced by the pulsatile blood flow, which can hardly be measured. Consequently, a mean value theorem (MVT) based observer to estimate the blood velocity from the sole measurement of the robot position is proposed. Also, the stability of the observer-based backstepping controller is proved. The resulting estimation and tracking are then illustrated through simulations, as well as robustness to parametric uncertainty, measurement noise, and dynamical errors when the pulsatile blood flow is incorrectly modeled.
Wireless magnetic microrobots can perform complex tasks for small-scale minimally invasive surger... more Wireless magnetic microrobots can perform complex tasks for small-scale minimally invasive surgery (MIS) that requires high precision and dexterity. The choice of the configuration of the electromagnetic actuation (EMA) system is a key issue for reliable medical applications. This paper addresses the study of a robotic EMA platform firstly devoted to ophthalmic MIS, aiming at improving the manipulability and dexterity of the procedure. To this end, a robotic EMA system comprising four static and four mobile electromagnets is investigated. Evaluation of the magnetic force and torque, the manipulability and the dexterity indexes of EMA platforms are studied. The results demonstrate that a robotic EMA platform increases the versatility of the EMA system, and becomes resourceful to perform various tasks.
2011 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2011
The propulsion of nano-ferromagnetic objects by means of MRI gradients is a promising approach to... more The propulsion of nano-ferromagnetic objects by means of MRI gradients is a promising approach to enable new forms of therapy. In this work, necessary techniques are presented to make this approach work. This includes path planning algorithms working on MRI data, ferromagnetic artifact imaging and a tracking algorithm which delivers position feedback for the microdevice and a propulsion sequence to enable interleaved magnetic propulsion and imaging. Using a dedicated software environment integrating path-planning methods and real-time tracking, a clinical MRI system is adapted to provide this new functionality for potential controlled interventional targeted therapeutic applications. Through MRI-based sensing analysis, this paper aims to propose a framework to plan a robust pathway to enhance the navigation ability to reach deep locations in human body. The proposed approaches are validated with different experiments.
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inproceedings by Antoine Ferreira
Papers by Antoine Ferreira