Self-Steering Catheters for Neuroendovascular Interventions.

Area of Science:

• Medical Robotics
• Biomedical Engineering
• Neurosurgery

Background:

• Existing robotic systems face limitations in navigating the intricate and tortuous neurovasculature.
• Safety in neuroendovascular procedures necessitates fail-safe designs with passive compliance for lateral load sensing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel multi-articulated robotic catheter technology for neuroendovascular procedures.
• To enhance technical precision, reduce procedure time, and minimize radiation exposure.
• To enable semi-automation of catheter navigation.

Main Methods:

• Design and kinematic modeling of a multi-articulated robotic catheter with joint-level sensing.
• Implementation and experimental validation of a multi-mode real-time control architecture.
• Development of algorithms for intra-operative catheter tracking and pose filtering.

Main Results:

• The robotic catheter actively bends in two planes using series-elastic actuation for safety and active compliance.
• Demonstrated capabilities include branch selection, autonomous insertion in unknown channels, and deployment in a 2D vasculature model.
• Validated algorithms for real-time catheter tracking and pose filtering.

Conclusions:

• The developed robotic catheter technology represents a significant advancement for neuroendovascular procedures.
• The system's active compliance and joint-level sensing contribute to increased safety and precision.
• This work paves the way for semi-autonomous navigation in neuroendovascular interventions.