Soft, water-powered robot makes endoscopic surgery easier

A soft pop-up robot arm performs tissue counter-traction during an ex-vivo test on a porcine stomach. [Image courtesy of Harvard University]

Harvard researchers have created a rigid-soft robotic arm for endoscopes that can sense, flex and has multiple degrees of freedom.

Flexible endoscopes fit through narrow passages to reach difficult parts of the body. Once they reach their target, the devices need rigid surgical tools to be able to manipulate or remove tissues.

Researchers from Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) developed this robotic arm using a manufacturing paradigm that involves pop-up fabrication and soft lithography. The robotic arm lies flat on an endoscope until it reaches a certain location where it pops up to help in surgical procedures.

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