Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39962833›Full record

ArticleAdvanced healthcare materials2025

Motor-Free Soft Robots for Cancer Detection, Surgery, and In Situ Bioprinting.

Chi Cong Nguyen, James Davies, Aditya Ashok, Trung Thien Hoang, Anahid Ehteda, Tran Bach Dang, Emanuele Nicotra, Hien A Tran, Bibhu Sharma, Kefan Zhu and 8 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Advanced healthcare materials, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

18 authors.

Chi Cong NguyenGraduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, and Tyree Institute of Health Engineering (IHealthE), UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
James DaviesGraduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, and Tyree Institute of Health Engineering (IHealthE), UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Aditya AshokSchool of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Trung Thien HoangGraduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, and Tyree Institute of Health Engineering (IHealthE), UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Anahid EhtedaSchool of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Tran Bach DangSchool of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Emanuele NicotraGraduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, and Tyree Institute of Health Engineering (IHealthE), UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Hien A TranGraduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, and Tyree Institute of Health Engineering (IHealthE), UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Bibhu SharmaGraduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, and Tyree Institute of Health Engineering (IHealthE), UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Kefan ZhuGraduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, and Tyree Institute of Health Engineering (IHealthE), UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Phuoc Thien PhanGraduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, and Tyree Institute of Health Engineering (IHealthE), UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Adrienne JiGraduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, and Tyree Institute of Health Engineering (IHealthE), UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Jingjing WanGraduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, and Tyree Institute of Health Engineering (IHealthE), UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Jelena Rnjak-KovacinaGraduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, and Tyree Institute of Health Engineering (IHealthE), UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Orazio VittorioSchool of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Hoang-Phuong PhanSchool of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Nigel Hamilton LovellGraduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, and Tyree Institute of Health Engineering (IHealthE), UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Thanh Nho DoGraduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, and Tyree Institute of Health Engineering (IHealthE), UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-4980-5251

Funding

Cancer Institute NSW PS66730UNSW GRIP Award PS74064UNSW Scientia Fellowship Grant PS46197
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Recent advancements in teleoperated surgical robotic systems (TSRSs) for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) have significantly improved diagnostic and surgical outcomes. However, as the complexity of MIS procedures continues to grow, there is an increasing need to enhance surgical tools by integrating advanced functionalities into these instruments for superior medical results. Despite recent advancements, TSRSs face significant challenges, including rigidity, suboptimal actuation methods, large sizes, and complex control mechanisms. This paper presents a portable, motor-free soft robotic system equipped with soft robotic arms (SRAs) that provides an innovative solution for performing MIS within complex human organs. Unlike conventional approaches, these SRAs leverage a soft fibrous syringe architecture for operation, eliminating the need for complex control systems. This design achieves precise motion control with mean errors <300 µm, effectively minimizing physical tremors. Two SRAs-one with and one without a central lumen-are developed. By integrating microelectrodes into the SRAs, the system demonstrates capabilities to support cancer detection via electrical impedance measurements and to perform radio-frequency ablation for surgical treatments. Additionally, the system supports biomaterial injections and in situ 3D printing for internal wound healing. This simple, cost-effective platform represents a promising new direction for developing TSRSs in MIS.

Indexed as

BioprintingNeoplasmsRobotic Surgical ProceduresAnimalsHumansMinimally Invasive Surgical ProceduresPrinting, Three-Dimensionalminimally invasive surgerymotor‐freesoft robotic armsoft roboticsteleoperated systems

Identifiers

PMID39962833
PMCPMC12118338

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.