Excitation coil for sentinel lymph node harvesting: design, digital twin and prototype

Area of Science:

• Surgical technology
• Biomedical engineering
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Sentinel lymph node biopsy is crucial for cancer staging.
• Current methods for SLN identification can be invasive.
• Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) offer a potential tracer for SLN detection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel excitation coil for the Laparoscopic Differential Magnetometer (LapDiffMag).
• To ensure the coil's magnetic field meets clinical requirements for SPION activation and detection.
• To leverage digital twin technology for coil design and safety assessment.

Main Methods:

• Coil design based on clinical requirements for laparoscopic procedures.
• Digital twin modeling to simulate and analyze the magnetic field.
• Manufacturing of the excitation coil prototype.
• Experimental validation of the magnetic field produced by the manufactured coil.

Main Results:

• The developed excitation coil successfully generated a magnetic field suitable for SPION activation.
• Digital twin modeling accurately predicted the magnetic field characteristics.
• Experimental validation showed good concordance between modeled and manufactured coil magnetic fields.
• The coil demonstrated safety and effectiveness through digital twin analysis.

Conclusions:

• The newly developed excitation coil is a viable component for the LapDiffMag system.
• This technology has the potential to enhance minimally invasive sentinel lymph node harvesting.
• Further validation is required for full clinical implementation.