One of the problems of minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery is the introduction of surgical instruments into the body
Experimental system MaSoChain (magneticsoft-robotic chain, rus. magnetic soft robotic circuit) was developed at the Swiss research institute ETH Zurich by a team led by doctoral student Hongzhi Gu. He is currently a postdoc at the University of Konstanz.
In a nutshell, MaSoChain is printed on3D printed surgical instruments that consist of small, rigid polymer segments with flexible, elastic connectors. Each segment has a tiny, strategically placed magnet inside. When inserted into the catheter, all components are arranged end-to-end, like pearls on a necklace, the scientists write.
When the instrument is pushed out of the end of the catheter,its magnets attract each other, causing MaSoChain to take the desired shape (which is wider than the catheter). In all cases, once the surgical task is completed, the instrument components return to their original narrow pearl strand configuration as they are pulled back through the catheter. The entire unit can then be sterilized and reused.
The research is described in a paper recently published in the journal Nature Communications. The transforming MaSoChain system can be seen below.
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