Regrafting submillimeter-scale ferromagnetic soft continuums.

ABSTRACT: Submillimeter-scale ferromagnetic soft continuums (FSCs) own innate skills in performing desirable and delicate bending for confined space navigation, especially in biological lumens. However, such tiny structures are difficult to endow with complex designs, thereby challenging to realize more sophisticated functions for various purposes, especially in vivo therapies and manipulations. Inspired by grafting for muscles and plants, we propose submillimeter-scale FSCs that can actively divide into pieces at any region, and conversely, the pieces can actively graft to each other to form the original structure or novel shapes. We define these functions as regrafting, comprising self-division and self-mergence. Implementing regrafting implies actively switching between two opposing characteristi

SUBMITTER: Yang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12313971 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature