AccScience Publishing / IJB / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/IJB025420427
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PERSPECTIVE ARTICLE

AI-enhanced magnetically controlled 4D printing: Reshaping the future of medical robotics

Jinrun Liu1,2† ,  Qi Wang2† ,  Ke Xu3,4* ,  Zhenkun Li5,6* ,  Juan Liu2*
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1 The Institute of Translational Medicine, Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Precision Cell Therapy, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China.
2 Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, School of Clinical Medicine, Tsinghua Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
3 Department of Hand Microsurgery and Plastic Reconstructive Surgery, Ningbo No. 6 Hospital, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China
4 Ningbo Clinical Research Center for Orthopedics, Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China
5 School of Mechanical, Electronic and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China
6 Rheobot Laboratory, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China
†These authors contributed equally to this work.
IJB, 025420427 https://doi.org/10.36922/IJB025420427
Received: 17 October 2025 | Accepted: 6 November 2025 | Published online: 6 November 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

As a frontier interdisciplinary breakthrough, magnetically controlled 4D printing integrates smart materials, additive manufacturing, and magnetic actuation, and is contributing considerably to healthcare practices. By introducing time as the fourth dimension, magnetic 4D-printed devices can dynamically transform their structure and function in response to physiological or external magnetic stimuli, enabling minimally invasive interventions with enhanced adaptability and precision. Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into magnetically controlled 4D printing accelerates material discovery, optimizes design and manufacturing, and enables intelligent navigation and control in complex in vivo environments. Recent advances highlight promising applications in interventional therapy, targeted drug delivery, and tissue repair, yet challenges remain in achieving biocompatible multifunctional materials, scalable fabrication, and safe clinical translation. Looking ahead, synergistic integration of AI with multimodal actuation, digital twins, and biomimetic systems may unlock unprecedented opportunities for personalized, adaptive, and intelligent medical robots. This perspective outlines current progress, key challenges, and future directions of AI-enhanced magnetically controlled 4D printing, underscoring its transformative potential in redefining next-generation medical robotics.  

Graphical abstract
Keywords
AI-enhanced 4D printing
Magnetic actuation
Medical robotics
Funding
This work was partially supported by grants from the following sources: Beijing Natural Science Foundation (No.7254466), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32371477, 82572451), the Ningbo Clinical Research Center for Orthopedics, Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation (2024L004), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2024JBMC011), the Aeronautical Science Foundation of China (No. 2024Z0560M5001), the Natural Science Projects funded by Hebei Province (No. E2024105049), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 92359301), the Ningbo Top Medical and Health Research Program (No. 2022020506), and Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Precision Cell Therapy (2024SSY06241).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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International Journal of Bioprinting, Electronic ISSN: 2424-8002 Print ISSN: 2424-7723, Published by AccScience Publishing
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