Independent control of nanoparticle clusters

Abstract

Independent motion control of several magnetic agents at micro scale is essential in diverse biomedical and nano-technology applications. In this study, we achieve closed-loop motion control of multiple clusters of iron-oxide nanoparti-cles using an electromagnetic system. This system consists an array of parallel in-plane electromagnetic coils. We devise a control algorithm based on round-robin scheduling paradigm to achieve simultaneous control of multiple clusters of iron-oxide nanoparticles. This proposed control strategy allows us to exert primary and auxiliary magnetic forces and achieve independent positioning of multiple clusters at average speeds of 8125±500 ¡m/s (mean±s.d.) and 617±400μm/s, respectively.