A snake-inspired soft robot travels through the small intestine
Science & technology · 28 October 2026
The small intestine is more than six metres long and far harder to examine than the stomach or colon. Today's double-balloon enteroscopy alternately inflates two balloons to move an instrument forward, a slow, staff-intensive procedure used to investigate bleeding, lesions, and blockages.
MIT engineers designed a soft tubular robot whose pneumatic actuators lengthen or bend like a snake. Two anchoring balloons alternate to propel it. Flat kirigami sleeves raise tiny points when expanded, gripping slippery mucosa without excessively stretching tissue. The device carries a camera, a drug sprayer, and clips for biopsies or polyp removal.
In animal studies, the robot travelled about two metres through the intestine and demonstrated its imaging and intervention tools. It remains tethered to external controllers and needs improved navigation before clinical testing. These are preclinical results and do not yet show that the procedure is safer or more effective in patients.
Source: Anne Trafton · MIT News.