Modeling of IPMC Guide Wire Stirrer in Endovascular Surgery

Abstract

Reported are modeling, design, development, and laboratory testing of an electrically bendable soft distal tip of a guide wire or micro-catheter for use during endovascular surgical operations or diagnostics. The catheter distal tip is equipped with an electrically controllable, relatively floppy stirrer. The distal end is equipped with an ionic polymeric metal composite (IPMC) artificial muscle. The artificial muscle is connected to an external voltage and controllable by a feed forward or feedback controller and may be manipulated through a surgical robotic system similar to those used in master–slave robots. By varying the voltage or current applied to the polymeric artificial muscle bender, it can be made to bend/stir in one direction or another. By pointing the distal tip in a desired direction, the catheter or guide wire can be advanced to a specific location such as a cerebral aneurysm in the brain vasculature through body lumens. The artificial muscle distal tip bender is multifunctional or smart because it can serve both as an endovascular actuator and a sensor for hemodynamic flow and force measurement.