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Updated: Jan 27, 2026

Design and Fabrication of an Elastomeric Unit for Soft Modular Robots in Minimally Invasive Surgery
Published on: November 14, 2015
Soft Robotics in Minimally Invasive Surgery
Mark Runciman1, Ara Darzi2, George P Mylonas1
11Human-Centred Automation, Robotics and Monitoring in Surgery (HARMS) Lab, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
Soft robotic devices have desirable traits for applications in minimally invasive surgery (MIS), but many interdisciplinary challenges remain unsolved. To understand current technologies, we carried out a keyword search using the Web of Science and Scopus databases, applied inclusion and exclusion criteria, and compared several characteristics of the soft robotic devices for MIS in the resulting articles. There was low diversity in the device designs and a wide-ranging level of detail regarding their capabilities. We propose a standardized comparison methodology to characterize soft robotics for various MIS applications, which will aid designers producing the next generation of devices.
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