The quest for compliant machines able to safely interact with the human body is increasingly demanded in medical applications. To achieve this goal, significant research efforts in robotics have been directed at the development of novel classes of devices allowed by the introduction of the soft robotics approach. The broad research that has been conducted in the last years is however not reflected in a spread commercialization of these systems into the market. Thus, additional efforts are still needed to achieve soft robots that are proven to be sufficiently effective and long-lasting to finally make the possibility of clinical translation real. Thus, this workshop aims to explore scientific advances and translation challenges in soft robotics for medical applications.

Main questions

• Why are not there many successful applications for soft robots in medicine so far?
• What are the potential barriers from regulatory side?

Contacts

• Linda Paternò, Sant'anna School of Advanced Studies (email: linda.paterno@santannapisa.it)
• Arianna Menciassi, Sant'anna School of Advanced Studies (email: arianna.menciassi@santannapisa.it)
• Gernot Kronreif, Austrian Center for Medical Innovation and Technology (email: gernot.kronreif@acmit.at)

Program

This workshop is supported by the Project MAPWORMS - Mimicking Adaptation and Plasticity in WORMS