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Magnetically actuated multimodal bioelectronic catheter for minimally invasive surgery and sensing

Nature Materials volume 24, pages 2019–2031 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Small-scale magnetically actuated catheters capable of remote active navigation have promising applications in minimally invasive surgeries. However, existing fabrication techniques hinder their integration with multimodal sensing components, especially since embedding rigid electronic components within the catheters may diminish their flexibility and controllability. Here we report a magnetically actuated bioelectronic catheter with the in situ multiplexed biosensing of multiple types of metabolite or ion simultaneously. We use four-dimensional multichannel printing to fabricate a flexible multichannel ferromagnetic catheter with a multichannel-sheath structure, comprising six liquid metal microchannels embedded in a polymer matrix for electrical conduction. The catheter can navigate through blood vessels and intestines using magnetically controlled active steering, being used for renal vein or intestines interventional surgeries and in situ multimetabolite sensing on rabbit and porcine models. Overall, the reported magnetically actuated bioelectronic catheter is a promising tool for remotely controlled biosensing and therapies on hard-to-reach lesions during minimally invasive surgery.

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Fig. 1: Schematic of MMBC and 4D multichannel printing technique.
Fig. 2: Property characterization of UMFC.
Fig. 3: Electrochemical sensing and drug delivery of MMBC.
Fig. 4: Demonstration of magnetically actuated navigation of MMBC.
Fig. 5: In vivo sensing performance of MMBC.
Fig. 6: In vivo minimally interventional surgery of MMBC.

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All data are available in the Article or its Supplementary Information. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant numbers T2225010 (X.X.), 32171399 (X.X.), 32171456 (H.C.) and 52305442 (Y.Z.); Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation under grant numbers 2023A1515011267 (X.X.), 2023A1515111139 (X.H.) and 2025A1515010188 (Y.Z.); Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province under grant number 2022B1515020011 (L.J.); Shenzhen Science and Technology Program under grant numbers JCYJ20220818102201003 (L.J.), KCXFZ20230731094500001 (L.J.) and JCYJ20220818102201002 (L.J.); Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou, China, under grant numbers 2024B03J0121 (X.X.) and 2024B03J1284 (H.C.); and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, Sun Yat-sen University, under grant number 24xkjc011 (X.X.).

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Jingbo Yang, Yuanxi Zhang.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Display Material and Technology, School of Electronics and Information Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

    Jingbo Yang, Zhengjie Liu, Shuang Huang, Xinshuo Huang, Shantao Zheng, Jing Liu, Huijiuan Chen & Xi Xie

  2. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Sensor Technology and Biomedical Instrument, School of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China

    Jingbo Yang, Yuanxi Zhang, Shuang Huang, Fuqian Chen, Tong Wu, Lelun Jiang & Xi Xie

  3. The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

    Yunuo Wang & Jing Liu

  4. Laboratory of Biomaterials and Translational Medicine, Center for Nanomedicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

    Mingqiang Li & Yu Tao

  5. Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Lizhi Xu

Authors
  1. Jingbo Yang
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Contributions

X.X. and L.J. conceived and designed the project. J.Y. and Y.Z. performed most of the experiments, analysed the data and prepared the manuscript. L.J. and X.X. supervised the work, guided the research and edited the manuscript. Z.L., S.H. and X.H. helped with the data analysis, references and graphics preparation. S.H., X.H., S.Z. and F.C. contributed to the in vivo experiments and data collection. J.Y., Y.Z. and T.W. developed the eight-axis coil magnetic control system. Y.W., Y.T., M.L., L.X., H.C. and J.L. guided the animal experiments. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Lelun Jiang or Xi Xie.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Materials thanks Hongsoo Choi and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information (download PDF )

Supplementary Notes 1–17, Figs. 1–53, Table 1, captions to Supplementary Videos 1–5 and refs. 1–16.

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Supplementary Data 1 (download XLSX )

Source data for Supplementary Figs. 2, 4–6, 8, 9, 12, 15, 17–20, 31, 32, 42 and 45–49.

Supplementary Video 1 (download MP4 )

Demonstration of MMBC lighting up the LED array at different coordinates.

Supplementary Video 2 (download MP4 )

Demonstration of MMBC navigating through a 3D tortuous vascular phantom network.

Supplementary Video 3 (download MP4 )

Experimental demonstration of MMBC selectively steering through a set of rings.

Supplementary Video 4 (download MP4 )

Navigation process of MMBC within the rabbit’s intestines.

Supplementary Video 5 (download MP4 )

Selective navigation of MMBC from the inferior vena cava into the upper branch of the renal vein.

Source data

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Source data for Fig. 2e–t.

Source Data Fig. 3 (download XLSX )

Source data for Fig. 2d–n.

Source Data Fig. 4 (download XLSX )

Source data for Fig. 4d–f.

Source Data Fig. 5 (download XLSX )

Source data for Fig. 5e–i.

Source Data Fig. 6 (download XLSX )

Source data for Fig. 6i.

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Yang, J., Zhang, Y., Liu, Z. et al. Magnetically actuated multimodal bioelectronic catheter for minimally invasive surgery and sensing. Nat. Mater. 24, 2019–2031 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02340-5

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