Acoustic bubble-based drug manipulation: carrying, releasing and penetrating for targeted drug delivery using an electromagnetically actuated microrobot

•This paper presents acoustic bubble-based drug manipulation (carrying, releasing, penetrating) for microrobotic targeted drug delivery.•The electromagnetic actuation for driving the microrobot is investigated.•The drug manipulation (carrying, releasing, and penetrating) using the acoustic bubble actuation is investigated, respectively.•The proposed targeted drug delivery technology is demonstrated using a fabricated microrobot and electromagnetic system in a C-shaped channel.•The proposed technology can transport liquid forms of drugs in an aqueous medium and remotely manipulate drugs without complex mechanical parts.