Soft Robotic Arm For Endoscopy

Endoscopy devices which are flexible and passes through narrow passages rely on rigid surgical tools to manipulate or remove tissue. But these tools reduce dexterity and sensing, limiting the current therapeutic capabilities of the endoscope. A research team from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have developed a hybrid rigid-soft robotic arm for endoscopes with integrated sensing, flexibility, and multiple degrees of freedom.