Autonomous and reversible adhesion using elastomeric suction cups for in-vivo medical treatments

Remotely controllable and reversible adhesion is highly desirable for surgical operations: it can provide the possibility of non-invasive surgery, flexibility in fixing a patch and surgical manipulation via sticking. In our previous work, we developed a remotely controllable, ingestible, and deployable pill for use as a patch in the human stomach. In this study, we focus on magnetically facilitated reversible adhesion and develop a suction-based adhesive mechanism as a solution for non-invasive and autonomous adhesion of patches. We present the design, model, and fabrication of a magnet-embedded elastomeric suction cup. The suction cup can be localised, navigated, and activated or deactivated in an autonomous way; all realised magnetically with a pre-programmed fashion. The use of the adhesion mechanism is demonstrated for anchoring and carrying, for patching an internal organ surface and for an object removal, respectively.