Multimodal Soft Surgical Robots Enabled by Eco-Degradable, Sterilizable Polymers and Transient Electronics

초록

Eco-degradable soft robots offer a sustainable alternative to disposable surgical tools, which generate medical waste and exhibit mechanical mismatch with soft tissues. Their clinical translation, however, has been hindered by the lack of systems that maintain reliable performance under sterilization, physiological hydration, and repeated mechanical loading. We report a soft surgical robot composed of an eco-degradable polymer architecture that combines a high-crosslink elastomer with hydration-resistant PBAT and UV-cured PBTPA encapsulation layers. This materials framework preserves mechanical integrity and device functionality under ethylene oxide (EO) sterilization and physiological conditions, enabling integration of Mo crack-based tactile sensors and Si nanomembrane (Si-NM) diode temperature sensors. Mechanical characterization of the constituent polymers revealed minimal changes after EO sterilization and less than 10% variation within the first 12 h of exposure to physiological fluids at 37 degrees C. The assembled system maintained stable bending mechanics and force output over 300 pneumatic actuation cycles and achieved in vivo tactile and in vitro thermal sensing while exhibiting favorable short-term biocompatibility. Environmental assessment demonstrated progressive compost degradation and earthworm safety. This study establishes a clinically durable, eco-degradable soft robotic platform that unites functional reliability with environmental sustainability, offering a route toward sensor-integrated, disposable surgical tools for minimally invasive procedures.

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