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EDITORIAL article
Front. Robot. AI
Sec. Biomedical Robotics
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frobt.2025.1581829
This article is part of the Research Topic Smart Endorobots for Endoluminal Procedures: Design, Ethics and Future Trends View all 7 articles
Smart Endorobots for Endoluminal Procedures: Design, Ethics, and Future Trends
Provisionally accepted- 1 School of Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
- 2 Bioengineering and Health Technologies Unit, Jesus Uson Minimally Invasive Surgery Centre, Cáceres, Spain
- 3 University College London, London, England, United Kingdom
- 4 Innovation Center Computer Assisted Surgery, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Lower Saxony, Germany
The development of smart endorobots is transforming the field of minimally invasive procedures by introducing novel solutions for diagnosis and treatment within the human body. These advanced robotic systems enable enhanced manoeuvrability, improved precision, and greater patient safety. Clinicians are increasingly supported by endorobots to perform diagnosis and treatment of difficult-toreach organs through small incisions or natural orifices. New technologies have provided a tool to improve the design of such devices (e.g., reducing size, improving dexterity, and reducing stress and fatigue, while AI and ML algorithms are providing a tool to support clinical judgment (Manfredi, 2021(Manfredi, , 2022)). This new generation of endorobots is not only capable of mimicking users' movements but also performing tasks at different levels of autonomy. Their design requires a multidisciplinary team that involves experts in various research areas, including actuators, sensors, control, mechanics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning (ML), and imaging. The increased level of autonomy introduces ethical concerns regarding responsibility, regulatory compliance, and ensuring safety while avoiding limitations on technological advancements.The design of endorobots for endoluminal applications requires a multidisciplinary approach covering different research aspects. The goal of this research topic was to gather contributions from various disciplines into one collection, offering readers a comprehensive overview of the field.This research topic includes a collection of articles and reviews that can be summarized into three main themes: i)
Keywords: endorobots, Endoscopic robots, Robotics Navigation, AI, soft robotics, Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
Received: 23 Feb 2025; Accepted: 03 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Manfredi, Sánchez-Margallo, Wurdemann and Melzer. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Luigi Manfredi, School of Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.