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A linear stepping endovascular intervention robot with variable stiffness and force sensing

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International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background/purpose

Robotic-assisted endovascular intervention surgery has attracted significant attention and interest in recent years. However, limited designs have focused on the variable stiffness mechanism of the catheter shaft. Flexible catheter needs to be partially switched to a rigid state that can hold its shape against external force to achieve a stable and effective insertion procedure. Furthermore, driving catheter in a similar way with manual procedures has the potential to make full use of the extensive experience from conventional catheter navigation. Besides driving method, force sensing is another significant factor for endovascular intervention.

Methods

This paper presents a variable stiffness catheterization system that can provide stable and accurate endovascular intervention procedure with a linear stepping mechanism that has a similar operation mode to the conventional catheter navigation. A specially designed shape-memory polymer tube with water cooling structure is used to achieve variable stiffness of the catheter. Hence, four FBG sensors are attached to the catheter tip in order to monitor the tip contact force situation with temperature compensation.

Results

Experimental results show that the actuation unit is able to deliver linear and rotational motions. We have shown the feasibility of FBG force sensing to reduce the effect of temperature and detect the tip contact force. The designed catheter can change its stiffness partially, and the stiffness of the catheter can be remarkably increased in rigid state. Hence, in the rigid state, the catheter can hold its shape against a \(1.8 \, \hbox {N} \,\hbox {cm}\) load. The prototype has also been validated with a vascular phantom, demonstrating the potential clinical value of the system.

Conclusion

The proposed system provides important insights into the design of compact robotic-assisted catheter incorporating effective variable stiffness mechanism and real-time force sensing for intraoperative endovascular intervention.

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Funding

This study was funded in part by National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant (Nos. 61773280 and 51520105006), in part by Tianjin Municipal Science and Technology Department Program (No. 16JCYBJC40700) and in part by the Key Technologies Research and Development Program of China (No. 2017YFC0110401).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Chengbin He, Shuxin Wang & Siyang Zuo

Authors
  1. Chengbin He
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  2. Shuxin Wang
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  3. Siyang Zuo
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Correspondence to Siyang Zuo.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Cite this article

He, C., Wang, S. & Zuo, S. A linear stepping endovascular intervention robot with variable stiffness and force sensing. Int J CARS 13, 671–682 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-018-1722-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-018-1722-x

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