Microscale intestinal perforation can cause considerable mortality and is very difficult to treat using conventional methods owing to the numerous challenges associated with microscale operations, which require the development of new body-friendly and effective treatment methods. Swarming micro- and nanomotors have shown great potential in biomedical applications in complex and hard-to-reach environments. Herein, we present a wheel-like magnetic-driven microswarm (WLM) with a band-aid imitation to patch microscale intestinal perforations by pasting on the perforation point in mucus-filled environments. A method called "packing under rolling" was applied to make the formed microswarms denser and rounder. Microswarms with variable aspect ratios can be fabricated by tuning the frequency and strength of the external magnetic field. Actuation and navigation in a confined complex environment, locomotion on three-dimensional surfaces, and multiple switchable motion modes have been realized by combining AC and DC magnetic fields. Moreover, we demonstrated WLM controllable navigation, movement, and microscale perforation patching in the chicken intestines ex vivo. The proposed strategy will contribute to the treatment of microscale intestinal perforation and may be applicable to novel, precise topical medication and microsurgery.
Keywords: collective behavior; intestinal perforation; magnetic-driven; microsurgery; microswarm; swarming microrobots.