Michaël Gauthier is a senior scientist at FEMTO-ST in Besançon, France. His research interests include the modeling of an object's behavior in the microscale (microworld), the study, modeling, and control of handling strategies dedicated to the microworld and the study of robotic microassembly of microcomponents about 1 to 100 micrometers in size. Nicolas Andreff is Professor at FEMTO-ST in Besançon, France. He is currently working on developing a research activity on medical microrobotics. Etienne Dombre is a senior scientist at LIRMM in Montpellier, France. His research interests include robot design and control and robotic systems for medical applications involving force control.

• Introduction ixChapter 1. Intracorporeal Millirobotics 11.1. Introduction 11.2. Principles 21.2.1. Partially intracorporeal devices with active distal mobilities 21.2.2. Intracorporeal manipulators 51.2.3. Intracorporeal mobile devices 161.3. Scientific issues 201.3.1. Modeling 201.3.2. Design 241.3.3. Actuation and transmission 261.3.4. Sensing 301.3.5. Control 341.4. Examples of devices 371.4.1. The robotic platform of the Araknes project 391.4.2. A snake-like robot made of concentric super-elastic tubes 441.4.3. MICRON: a handheld robotized instrument for ophthalmic surgery 481.5. Conclusion 52Chapter 2. Intracorporeal Microrobotics 552.1. Introduction 552.2. Novel paradigms for intracorporeal robotics 562.2.1. Classification of intracorporeal robots 562.2.2. Physical principles in use at microscale 572.3. Methods 662.3.1. Models 662.3.2. Design 712.3.3. Actuation 752.3.4. Sensing 802.3.5. Control 862.4. Devices 972.4.1. Magnetically guided catheters 972.4.2. Distal tip mobility for endoluminal microphonosurgery 982.4.3. Autonomous active capsules 1022.4.4. Magnetically guided capsules 1042.5. Conclusion 107Chapter 3. In vitro Non-Contact Mesorobotics 1093.1. Introduction 1093.2. Principles 1113.2.1. Introduction 1113.2.2. Laser trapping 1143.2.3. Electrostatic principles 1183.3. Scientific challenges 1223.3.1. Modeling 1223.3.2. Design 1293.3.3. Perception 1313.3.4. Control 1313.4. Experimental devices 1323.4.1. Laser trapping 1323.4.2. DEP systems 1393.5. Conclusion 147Chapter 4. Toward Biomedical Nanorobotics 1494.1. Applicative challenges 1494.1.1. In vitro applications 1494.1.2. Nanoassembly for biomedical applications 1504.1.3. In vivo applications 1504.2. Scientific challenges 1504.2.1. New paradigm removing frontiers between sciences 1504.2.2. Energy sources 1514.2.3. How far away is this future? 152Bibliography 153Index 183