Soft Everting Robots for Medical Applications: A Review

Abstract

Soft Everting Robots (SER) are a subclass of soft robotic systems that move by body eversion, enabling highly compliant and adaptive locomotion. These properties make them attractive for medical use, particularly in endoluminal procedures such as colonoscopy or vascular navigation. A structured literature review was performed following the PRISMA methodology. In total, 50 publications were identified that explicitly investigated SER in medical contexts. The publications were categorized by application area, technical design aspects, and reported challenges. Recurring issues include safe interaction with delicate tissue, prevention of leakage, miniaturization to anatomical constraints, sterility and reusability concepts, and reliable navigation in tortuous pathways. SER are additionally compared against related technologies – as these often surface in SER-related searches and can be confused with SER approaches – and the commercialization landscape is briefly outlined. By consolidating these findings, the review provides a structured overview of the state of the art and outlines guidelines for design, control, and the potential future clinical implementation of SER.