A robotic arm that can bend, stretch and squeeze through cluttered environments has been inspired by the arms of the octopus. The device could be used for surgical operations, enabling surgeons to access remote, confined regions of the body and manipulate soft organs without damaging them.
Credit:
A bioinspired soft manipulator for minimally invasive surgery
T Ranzani, G Gerboni, M Cianchetti and A Menciassi
Bioinspiration and Biomimetics 2015
doi:10.1088/1748-3190/10/3/035008