Applications of magnetorheological (MR) fluids in the biomedical field

“Smart materials” are materials that change significantly one or more of their properties, such as shape, color, or size in response to externally applied stimuli, such as stress, light, temperature, moisture or pH, and electric or magnetic fields. Unlike passive structural materials, smart materials play an active part in the way the structure or device works, and their changes are purposeful and reversible. While smart materials have offered a significant impact on our lives via their applications in aerospace, marine, automotive, civil engineering, computer, and other electronic devices, they also have the potential to improve lives of patients through their applications in the biomedical field.

Magnetorheological (MR) fluids are a specific class of smart materials because they are capable of responding to changes in their environment. They are materials that change their rheological properties from a free-flowing liquid state in the absence of magnetic field to a solid-like state in the presence of magnetic field.

This review paper focuses on the state-of-the-art applications of MR fluid in the development and design of the biomedical equipment. The current paper addresses four applications of MR fluids in biomedical field: Development of teleoperation technology, the design of prosthetic devices, the design of rehabilitation devices and dental implant devices. For each application, the authors introduced a detailed discussion of the state-of-the-art research work and offered a tabulated summary of the key features, MR fluid used, applications, capabilities, and limitations of each device.