Compliant joint is the crucial part to improve the dexterity and workspace of minimally invasive surgical instrument. In order to overcome the limitation of the traditional manufacturing methods, multi-material 3D printing is employed to design new compliant joint and primary validation is carried out. The novel cable-driven multimaterial compliant joint integrates the hard and soft materials. The deformation happens in the soft material area which can significantly avoid material fatigue. The structure and kinematic model are described in detail. Prototypes of a flexible surgical instrument frame and a series continuum arm based on the novel joint are presented. The bending performance is evaluated. The results indicate that a single segment of multi-material 3D printing compliant joint has 2 degrees of freedom and can be bent up to approximate 90 degrees. The experimental results vary consistently with the kinematic model. In single-plane test, the maximum bending angle error is 8 degrees, while in spatial test, the maximum shift angle error and maximum bending angle error are both 9 degrees. The prototypes of a flexible surgical instrument frame and a series continuum arm work successfully as desired. The novel compliant joint not only has good flexural property, but also overcomes the material fatigue and manufacturing difficulty. It has potential application in the development of minimally invasive surgical instrument.