Towards multifunctional robotic pills

Summary

This perspective considers how oral dosage forms could evolve from passive containers into multifunctional robotic systems. Pills already offer convenient encapsulation, substantial loading capacity, manufacturability, and high patient acceptance. Microrobotics adds miniaturized mechanisms that can interact with tissue or alter how a payload is placed and released. The authors organize recent innovations into four principal device concepts: microneedles, microinjectors, microstirrers, and microrockets embedded within oral pills. They discuss the progress and application gaps associated with these approaches rather than presenting a new experimental device. The perspective argues that the next step is not simply adding one mechanical function to a capsule. Instead, several robotic capabilities should be integrated with precise control over release behavior so that a pill can sense or respond, perform coordinated actions, and ultimately operate as a closed-loop delivery system. Its significance lies in defining multifunctional integration and payload control as a development direction for oral microrobotics. Because this is a forward-looking perspective, the abstract supports a conceptual roadmap but does not establish comparative performance, clinical safety, manufacturability at scale, or readiness of any design for routine treatment.