Micro-Dexterity in Biological Micromanipulation: Embodiment, Perception, and Control

2026-04-13

AI Summary

This study addresses the failure of conventional dexterous manipulation in microscale biological settings, where fluidic environments, dominant interfacial forces, and object fragility severely limit traditional approaches. To overcome this, the work introduces a novel “micro-dexterity” framework that extends the concept of dexterous manipulation to the microscale for the first time. The framework redefines fundamental manipulation primitives—such as pushing, grasping, and reorientation—through an integrated perspective encompassing embodiment, perception, and control. It systematically evaluates platform architectures including contact-based actuation, non-contact field-driven methods, and multi-agent cooperative systems. By establishing a unified analytical framework tailored to biological micromanipulation, the study synthesizes the current technological landscape, identifies critical challenges for clinical translation, and provides foundational insights and design principles for developing highly dexterous micromanipulation systems.

Technology Category

• Intelligent Robots: Manipulation
• Multiagent Systems: Distributed Problem Solving
• Computer Vision: Medical and Biological Imaging

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Experiences and lessons learnt from Web-based algorithms and system deployments
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Graph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Efficient manipulation of static and dynamic Web-related graphs

Abstract

Microscale manipulation has advanced substantially in controlled locomotion and targeted transport, yet many biomedical applications require precise and adaptive interaction with biological micro-objects. At these scales, manipulation is realized through three main classes of platforms: embodied microrobots that physically interact as mobile agents, field-mediated systems that generate contactless trapping or manipulation forces, and externally actuated end-effectors that interact through remotely driven physical tools. Unlike macroscale manipulators, these systems function in fluidic, confined, and surface-dominated environments characterized by negligible inertia, dominant interfacial forces, and soft, heterogeneous, and fragile targets. Consequently, classical assumptions of dexterous manipulation, including rigid-body contact, stable grasping, and rich proprioceptive feedback, become difficult to maintain. This review introduces micro-dexterity as a framework for analyzing biological micromanipulation through the coupled roles of embodiment, perception, and control. We examine how classical manipulation primitives, including pushing, reorientation, grasping, and cooperative manipulation, are reformulated at the microscale; compare the architectures that enable them, from contact-based micromanipulators to contactless field-mediated systems and cooperative multi-agent platforms; and review the perception and control strategies required for task execution. We identify the current dexterity gap between laboratory demonstrations and clinically relevant biological manipulation, and outline key challenges for future translation.

Problem

• micro-dexterity
• biological micromanipulation
• embodiment
• perception
• control

Innovation

• micro-dexterity
• micromanipulation
• embodiment
• field-mediated manipulation
• multi-agent systems