Magnetic soft robots in medicine: material and structural designs for organ-specific applications

Magnetic soft robots are emerging as biomedical tools for minimally invasive interventions. They synergize remote magnetic actuation with soft materials compliance for safe navigation and therapy in delicate anatomical structures, such as gastrointestinal tract, blood vessels, and urinary systems. This review analyzes material-tissue toxicity and mechanical interactions, and summarizes material innovations in magnetic hydrogels, elastomers, ferrofluids and responsive composites. Organ-specific material and structural designs for clinical applications are discussed, showcasing advances of soft medical robots in targeted drug delivery, thrombus extraction, tissue sampling, thermal therapy, and in-situ sensing. Furthermore, we focus on key translational challenges, including long-term biostability of materials, adaptive closed-loop control, and multifunctional system integration, that must be addressed to reach the full potential of magnetic soft robots for clinical applications.