Advances in nanorobotics for gastrointestinal surgery: a new frontier in precision medicine and minimally invasive therapeutics.

Abstract

Nanorobotics is catalyzing a paradigm shift in GI surgery by synergizing nanoscale engineering, synthetic biology, and intelligent computation to create a novel frontier in precision medicine. This review critically discusses the most recent experimental breakthroughs in surgical nanorobots-from bioinspired actuation to programmable materials to autonomous tumor ablation to closed-looped therapeutic feedback-and charts their development from static constructions to intelligent agents with the ability to navigate the dynamic gastrointestinal (GI) environment. Systematically, we review how nanorobots integrate with artificial intelligence (AI)-fortified platforms, overcome GI-specific obstacles, and can facilitate site-specific intervention with spatiotemporal precision. Based on state-of-the-art preclinical models, organoid studies in humans, and in vivo deployment, we analyze biodegradability, pharmacokinetics, and regulatory readiness in pursuit of first-in-human trials. Aside from technical innovation, this review also addresses grand challenges in autonomy, off-target control, and ethical-legal frameworks, calling for an integrated, cross-specialty format to facilitate clinical translation. In visualizing neural-controlled nanorobots, self-healing machines, and living biosensor networks, we outline the pathway towards intelligent, minimally invasive surgery at the molecular level. This work posits surgical nanorobotics not as an incremental innovation but as a transformative axis for convergent surgical therapeutics in the next generation. It is an academic wake-up call for the strategic coming of age in this field from experimental brilliance to translational inevitability.