Soft robotic tool provides new 'eyes' in endovascular surgery

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart have developed a soft robotic tool that promises to one day transform minimally invasive endovascular surgery. The two-part magnetic tool can help to visualise in real time the fine morphological details of partial vascular blockages such as stenoses, even in the narrowest and most curved vessels. It can also find its way through severe blockages such as chronic total occlusions. This tool could one day take the perception of endovascular medical devices a step further. Intravascular imaging techniques and microcatheter procedures are becoming ever more advanced, revolutionizing the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases.