Authors
Yang Liu, Tianming He, Zheng Yang, Yuchuan Wu, Haobo Cui, Wenbo Song, Xinzhu Li, Xiaolu Shi, Shaobo Zhai, Fengxiang Gao, Shunli Chu
Published in
Journal of robotic surgery. Volume 20. Issue 1. Jun 19, 2026. Epub Jun 19, 2026.
Abstract
Soft robotic systems have become a promising technology in the biomedical field due to their higher safety, dexterity and adaptability compared to traditional rigid robotic systems. This review focuses on recent advances in soft robotic systems applied to surgical assistance and rehabilitation. In surgery, soft grippers and flexible endoscopes show better adaptability, dexterity, and miniaturization, enabling safer and more precise manipulation of delicate tissues. In rehabilitation, wearable soft devices show great potential to help patients with neurological injuries to regain movement. Key innovations in actuation technology are examined, along with recent advances in multifunctional, self-healing, and environmentally responsive materials. Meanwhile, sensing systems are evolving from unimodal sensing to multimodal fusion, self-perception, and sense-drive integration, enabling robots to sense the body state and external environment with higher accuracy and realize closed-loop control. Finally, this paper points out that soft robots still face key challenges such as material durability, biosafety, and stability during clinical translation. In the future, the focus should be on the construction of systems with self-diagnosis, self-adaptive adjustment and closed-loop control, and promote the efficient landing and personalized application of soft robots from experimental research to real medical scenarios.
PMID:
42319560
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 19 Jun 2026.
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