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Research Article | Open Access

Soft Science

Chen et al. Soft Sci. 2026, 6, 48 DOI:10.20517/ss.2026.28

A magnetic balloon fiberbot for catheter-free
angioplasty in small arteries

Han Chen , Yuxuan Sun , Han Peng , Yanxun Lin , Nian Zhang , Jiyu Li , Mengli Sui , Chuanxun
1,2
1,2
1,2
1,2
1,2
1,2
1,2
Cai , Sipei Ye , Rui Li , Liu Wang 1,2,*
1,2
1,2
3
Keywords:
Magnetic balloon fiberbot,
catheter-free angioplasty,
minimally invasive surgery,
small arteries, wireless
heating
Citation: Chen, H.; Sun, Y.;
Peng, H.; Lin, Y.; Zhang, N.;
Li, J.; Sui, M.; Cai, C.; Ye, S.;
Li, R.; Wang, L. A magnetic
balloon fiberbot for
catheter-free angioplasty in
small arteries. Soft Sci. 2026,
6, 48.
https://dx.doi.org/10.20517
/ss.2026.28
Received: 5 Feb 2026 Abstract
First Decision: 13 Apr
2026 Blockages in cerebral arteries restrict blood flow to the brain, leading to several
Revised: 19 May 2026 life-threatening conditions such as stroke. The standard treatment, known as
Accepted: 22 May 2026 catheter-assisted balloon angioplasty, involves threading a mechanical guidewire and
Published: 15 Jun 2026
catheter-mounted balloon to the blockage, where the balloon is inflated to reopen the
Academic Editor: blocked artery. However, this approach struggles with the limited navigation capability of
Xing Ma pre-shaped guidewires and catheters, especially in tortuous and small arteries with
Copy Editor: diameters ≤ 2 mm. Emerging miniature robots offer a potential alternative for catheter-free
Xing-Yue Zhang
Production Editor: angioplasty via wirelessly actuated expansion. Still, they typically require high-power
Xing-Yue Zhang electromagnetic coils and short actuation distances, limiting their practicality for
small-vessel interventions. In this work, we introduce a magnetic balloon fiberbot (MBF)
that synthesizes advanced materials, electromagnetic resonance strategies, and minimally
invasive magnetic actuation. The MBF incorporates a magnetically deflectable tip for
navigating complex vasculature, along with a phase-change balloon integrated into a
nitinol-cored polydimethylsiloxane fiber. Under low-power microwave heating (50 W at

1 State Key Laboratory of Nonlinear Mechanics, Department of Modern Mechanics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei
230026, Anhui, China.
2 Institute of Humanoid Robots, School of Engineering Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, Anhui, China.
3 State Key Laboratory of Structural Analysis, Optimization and CAE Software for Industrial Equipment, Dalian University of Technology,
Dalian 116024, Liaoning, China.

* Correspondence to: Prof. Liu Wang, State Key Laboratory of Nonlinear Mechanics, Department of Modern Mechanics, University of
Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, Anhui, China. E-mail: wangliu05@ustc.edu.cn

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