Robotic assisted surgery these days involves rigid instruments that often have to operate in difficult to access parts of the body. This is a major limiting factor that still necessitates open surgery when access to the treatment site is challenging. Researchers at MIT, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, and Stony Brook University are now developing “squishy” robotic components that can squeeze through narrow passages and pop right back to their original shape.
The components are made out of a composite material consisting of open-cell foam that was coated with wax. In its room temperature state, the material is stiff, but by applying heat, the wax softens and makes the material pliable. The team envisions wires running through the material that can be quickly heated by running an electric current through them, resulting in a material that can be made soft or hard at the press of a button. Moreover, the material is self-healing, so that when cracks appear due to stress when the material is in its rigid state, it can then be heated and cooled back down to repair any damage. Here’s video with the lead researchers describing their findings:
Study in Macromolecular Materials and Engineering: Thermally Tunable, Self-Healing Composites for Soft Robotic Applications…