Soft Robotics in Healthcare: A Systematic Review and Techno-Clinical Framework

Soft robotics has emerged as a promising alternative to conventional rigid systems in medical applications requiring safe interaction, geometric adaptability, and prolonged contact with or within the human body; however, heterogeneity in device designs, actuation technologies, control architectures, and evaluation metrics continues to limit direct comparison of outcomes and slow clinical translation. This systematic review synthesizes recent evidence on soft robotics in healthcare and proposes an applied framework integrating performance, safety, and technological maturity to support both clinical adoption and engineering design. In accordance with the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, 102 studies were included in the qualitative synthesis. Results show that, in neuromuscular rehabilitation, soft exosuits, orthoses, and gloves improve walking speed, joint range of motion, and manual dexterity with acceptable safety profiles; in minimally invasive and endoluminal intervention, soft catheters and robotic systems enhance navigability and positioning accuracy along tortuous trajectories with potential reductions in tissue damage; and in wearable applications, textile, capacitive, and iontronic sensors maintain stable signal acquisition under movement and prolonged use. From an engineering perspective, pneumatic and fluidic actuation dominate current implementations, whereas closed-loop control architectures integrating high-density soft sensing remain comparatively limited. Overall, the conformability and geometric compatibility of soft robotic systems provide clear clinical and procedural benefits. At the same time, challenges related to outcome standardization, advanced control integration, and technological maturity must be addressed to accelerate reliable clinical implementation.