TY - JOUR
T1 - Portable and Versatile Catheter Robot for Image-Guided Cardiovascular Interventions
AU - Kantu, Nikhil Tej
AU - Gao, Weibo
AU - Srinivasan, Nitin
AU - Buckner, Gregory D.
AU - Su, Hao
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 1996-2012 IEEE.
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - Cardiovascular disease remains the primary cause of death worldwide, necessitating the development of advanced endovascular instruments and procedures. These interventional procedures typically involve the use of guide catheters and guidewires, which are navigated through the vasculature under X-ray guidance. However, these procedures expose clinicians to prolonged radiation, posing potential health risks. Recent advances in endovascular catheter robots can mitigate the aforementioned risks by allowing teleoperation, but procedural efficacy has been hindered by their bulky designs that require designated facilities. In addition, these robots have limited compatibility with a wide range of instrument types and diameters, restricting their applicability to specific clinical interventions. To address these unmet needs, we have designed, fabricated, and experimentally validated a portable and versatile 4 degree-of-freedom catheter robot that can manipulate commercially available cardiovascular instruments with diameters ranging from 1 to 9 F. Furthermore, we analytically modeled the drive mechanism of the catheter robot and evaluated its tracking and insertion force and torque performance through experiments. Our portable robot (250 mm × 350 mm × 250 mm) is approximately 90% smaller than most state-of-the-art systems, e.g., Siemens Corindus system (1780 mm × 690 mm × 1170 mm), thanks to our highly integrated direct drive motors, mechatronics design, and modular instrument routing. Experimental evaluations confirm that the robot can actuate guidewires and guide catheters at clinically relevant force and torque amplitudes, speeds, and bandwidths without risking damage to delicate vascular tissues. The clinical potential of our catheter robot is demonstrated by performing a simulated percutaneous coronary intervention using a 3-D-printed model of the human heart. The portability and versatility of this catheter robot make it applicable to a wide range of cardiovascular procedures to potentially facilitate effective treatments.
AB - Cardiovascular disease remains the primary cause of death worldwide, necessitating the development of advanced endovascular instruments and procedures. These interventional procedures typically involve the use of guide catheters and guidewires, which are navigated through the vasculature under X-ray guidance. However, these procedures expose clinicians to prolonged radiation, posing potential health risks. Recent advances in endovascular catheter robots can mitigate the aforementioned risks by allowing teleoperation, but procedural efficacy has been hindered by their bulky designs that require designated facilities. In addition, these robots have limited compatibility with a wide range of instrument types and diameters, restricting their applicability to specific clinical interventions. To address these unmet needs, we have designed, fabricated, and experimentally validated a portable and versatile 4 degree-of-freedom catheter robot that can manipulate commercially available cardiovascular instruments with diameters ranging from 1 to 9 F. Furthermore, we analytically modeled the drive mechanism of the catheter robot and evaluated its tracking and insertion force and torque performance through experiments. Our portable robot (250 mm × 350 mm × 250 mm) is approximately 90% smaller than most state-of-the-art systems, e.g., Siemens Corindus system (1780 mm × 690 mm × 1170 mm), thanks to our highly integrated direct drive motors, mechatronics design, and modular instrument routing. Experimental evaluations confirm that the robot can actuate guidewires and guide catheters at clinically relevant force and torque amplitudes, speeds, and bandwidths without risking damage to delicate vascular tissues. The clinical potential of our catheter robot is demonstrated by performing a simulated percutaneous coronary intervention using a 3-D-printed model of the human heart. The portability and versatility of this catheter robot make it applicable to a wide range of cardiovascular procedures to potentially facilitate effective treatments.
KW - Cardiovascular intervention
KW - catheter
KW - endovascular disease
KW - friction wheel drive
KW - portable
KW - robotics
KW - versatile
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U2 - 10.1109/TMECH.2025.3559911
DO - 10.1109/TMECH.2025.3559911
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105004266951
SN - 1083-4435
JO - IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics
JF - IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics
ER -