A team of scientists at an Italian University created a robotic arm to support surgical procedures in compact areas of the body. The arm has been specifically designed to bend and contract like octopus tentacle.

According to the makers of the robotic arm the remote-controlled machine can extend and can become soft or rigid depending on the surgical environment to enable a minimally-invasive operation.

The prototype arm can squeeze between soft tissue and organs, by holding them apart gently if necessary.

A miniature surgical tool-kit is also installed at the top of the arm which helps during in performing surgery.

Pontedera BioRobotics Institute professor Tommaso Ranzani, said, "The human body represents a highly challenging and non-structured environment, where the capabilities of the octopus can provide several advantages with respect to traditional surgical tools".

Further in explanation he said generally, the octopus has no rigid structures and can therefore adapt the shape of its body to its environment.

Taking the advantage of the lack of rigid skeletal support, the eight highly flexible and long arms can twist, and change their length, or can bend in any direction at any point along the arm. The robot arm research has been outlined in the scientific journal, Bioinspiration and Biomimetics.

Scientists for creating the robotic arms used a 1.25-inches wide silicon tube containing inflatable cylindrical chambers.

By alternating the compression and inflation of the different chambers, the silicon tube can bend up to 255 degrees, and is able to stretch to 62% of its original length, said scientists.

Furthermore, in order to make the tube rigid, the robotics team inserted a plastic core made of light granules and extract air from the core to double the arm's stiffness. The machine so far has been tested using water-filled balloons at different weights to represent abdominal organs, one of the most cramped environments in the body.