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Updated: Jun 25, 2026
Remote Magnetic Navigation for Accurate, Real-time Catheter Positioning and Ablation in Cardiac Electrophysiology Procedures
Published on: April 21, 2013
Path tracking control of a steerable catheter in transcatheter cardiology interventions
Xiu Zhang1, Aditya Sridhar2, Xuan Thao Ha2
1Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, 20133, Milan, Italy. xiu.zhang@polimi.it.
Insights
This study presents a novel autonomous control system for robotic steerable catheters, achieving high accuracy in navigating complex vascular pathways for transcatheter interventions.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Interventions
- Robotics in Medicine
- Medical Device Navigation
Background:
- Transcatheter interventions offer less invasive alternatives to traditional surgery for conditions like mitral regurgitation.
- Current transcatheter mitral valve repair relies on catheter-based systems, but precise navigation remains a significant challenge.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate a path tracking control framework for autonomous navigation of steerable catheters in vascular lumens.
- To address the challenges of precise catheter manipulation during transcatheter procedures.
Main Methods:
- A robotic steerable catheter system with a kinematic model incorporating nonholonomic constraints was developed.
- A two-level feedback controller was designed, utilizing real-time data from electromagnetic and fiber Bragg grating sensors.
Main Results:
- The system demonstrated high accuracy in a patient-specific vessel phantom, with a median position error below 2 mm.
- Performance showed no significant difference between free space and contact regions, indicating robust navigation.
Conclusions:
- The proposed autonomous catheter control system shows promising accuracy for transcatheter cardiology interventions.
- This approach enables precise navigation without requiring parameter calibration or training datasets.
Purpose:
Intracardiac transcatheter interventions allow for reducing trauma and hospitalization stays as compared to standard surgery. In the treatment of mitral regurgitation, the most widely adopted transcatheter approach consists in deploying a clip on the mitral valve leaflets by means of a catheter that is run through veins from a peripheral access to the left atrium. However, precise manipulation of the catheter from outside the body while copying with the path constraints imposed by the vessels remains challenging.
Methods:
We proposed a path tracking control framework that provides adequate motion commands to the robotic steerable catheter for autonomous navigation through vascular lumens. The proposed work implements a catheter kinematic model featuring nonholonomic constraints. Relying on the real-time measurements from an electromagnetic sensor and a fiber Bragg grating sensor, a two-level feedback controller was designed to control the catheter.
Results:
The proposed method was tested in a patient-specific vessel phantom. A median position error between the center line of the vessel and the catheter tip trajectory was found to be below 2 mm, with a maximum error below 3 mm. Statistical testing confirmed that the performance of the proposed method exhibited no significant difference in both free space and the contact region.
Conclusion:
The preliminary in vitro studies presented in this paper showed promising accuracy in navigating the catheter within the vessel. The proposed approach enables autonomous control of a steerable catheter for transcatheter cardiology interventions without the request of calibrating the intuitive parameters or acquiring a training dataset.
Related Concept Videos
01:28Cardiac Catheterization I: Pre-Procedure Overview
01:21Cardiac Catheterization II: Right Heart Catheterization
01:24Cardiac Catheterization III: Left Heart Catheterization
01:26Cardiac Catheterization IV: Nursing Management