A research team from the Shenyang Institute of Automation (SIA), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in collaboration with Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, developed a nanorobot-based marsupial robotic system that can enter the skull through a minimally invasive channel, bypass the blood？brain barrier to reach the glioma site, and accurately deliver drugs to the glioma lesion.

This study, titled "Dual-Responsive Nanorobot-Based Marsupial Robotic System for Intracranial Cross-Scale Targeting Drug Delivery," has been published in the latest issue of Advanced Materials" (Impact Factor: 29.4), the international top journal in the field of materials.

The robotic system comprises a magnetically driven continuous robot, biocompatible nanorobots, an external control system, and imaging equipment. For primary macro-scale targeting, the continuous robot enters the cranial cavity through the minimally invasive channel, circumvents the blood？brain barrier, and reaches the glioma location. For secondary micro-scale targeting, the nanorobots navigate through the internal passage of the continuous robot to the glioma lesion, propelled by an external field, moved within the tumor and released drugs.

The research team conducted in vitro experiments within the microenvironment of glioma cells and in ex vivo swine brain tissues. The results confirmed that the nanorobots could deliver drugs to specific lesions over long distances and release drugs to kill glioma cells, verifying the feasibility of the proposed nanorobot-based marsupial robotic system for cross-scale drug delivery.

In the future, the research team plans to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of cross-scale drug delivery using the marsupial robotic system within live animal cranial cavities. This effort, coupled with clinical collaboration, aims to further enhance the performance of the marsupial robotic system. Ultimately, the goal is to apply this technology clinically in the near future to alleviate patient suffering.