Needle steering system using duty-cycled rotation for percutaneous kidney access.

Area of Science:

• Medical Robotics
• Surgical Navigation
• Flexible Robotics

Background:

• Percutaneous kidney access is crucial for various medical interventions.
• Existing methods for renal access can be limited by needle trajectory control.
• Flexible needles offer potential for enhanced maneuverability in minimally invasive procedures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate a variable curvature flexible needle steering system for percutaneous renal access.
• To develop and test a nonlinear control law for precise needle path tracking during insertion.
• To assess the feasibility of the proposed steering system in simulated and in vitro environments.

Main Methods:

• Development of a variable curvature flexible needle steering system.
• Implementation of a nonlinear control law for duty-cycled rotational steering during insertion.
• Validation through computational simulation of renal access.
• In vitro testing using a tissue phantom to evaluate control method performance.

Main Results:

• The control law successfully guided the flexible needle to track a predetermined planar path.
• Simulations demonstrated the potential for accurate needle placement.
• In vitro experiments in a tissue phantom confirmed the efficacy of the steering and control approach.

Conclusions:

• The variable curvature flexible needle steering system shows promise for controlled percutaneous renal access.
• The proposed nonlinear control law provides effective guidance for flexible needles in medical interventions.
• Further development and in vivo studies are warranted to translate this technology into clinical practice.