Soft Robots for Healthcare and Biomedical Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Soft robotics is a rapidly transformative field with significant potential to revolutionize healthcare and biomedical applications. Made of flexible and deformable materials, soft robots offer unique advantages, such as compliance with biological tissues, adaptability to complex environments, and safe human–robot interactions. What does the inherent flexibility of soft robotics promise to advance? We can imagine novel approaches to medical interventions, such as the gentle manipulation of delicate tissues, precise control in confined spaces, and integration with the human body for seamless interaction and rehabilitation. Some of the main areas of impact for soft robotics in medicine and healthcare are minimally invasive surgery, rehabilitation, prosthetics, assistive devices, and drug delivery systems.

This Special Issue aims to explore recent advancements, challenges, and future directions in the development and application of soft robots for healthcare and biomedical applications, with emphasis on the following:

• Specific biomedical applications tailoring the design of soft robotic systems.
• Novel actuation and sensing mechanisms and materials for operation in biological environments and close human–robot interactions.
• Biomaterial-based technologies for soft robotics and components for soft biometrics.
• Biomedical soft devices and robots with real-time monitoring and adaptive behavior.
• Biomechanics and bioinspired approaches for mimicking biological functions and structures.
• Biocompatibility, safety, and regulatory considerations for clinical translation and deployment.
• Case studies and experimental demonstrations showcasing the capabilities and potential impact of soft robots in healthcare settings.

The technical focus in this domain includes various topics, such as robotic devices’ scalability, robustness, energy efficiency, and long-term reliability.

In this collection, we welcome researchers, engineers, clinicians, and practitioners to contribute with original research and review articles that address challenges and opportunities in the biomedical use of soft robotics; we hope to inspire strategies for interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge transfer between robotics, materials science, biomechanics, and medical disciplines.

Dr. Miriam Filippi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• soft robotics
• biomedical applications
• healthcare
• minimally invasive surgery
• rehabilitation
• prosthetics
• assistive devices
• drug delivery
• biocompatibility
• bioinspired design