Magnetic Catheters/Autonomous Endoscopy

Patient-Specific Magnetic Catheters for Atraumatic Autonomous Endoscopy
“We [electrical engineers at the University of Leeds] design and manufacture a fully shape-forming, soft magnetic catheter of 80 mm length and 2 mm diameter, capable of navigating a human anatomy in a follow-the-leader fashion. Although this system could be exploited for a range of endoscopic or intravascular applications, here we demonstrate its efficacy for navigational bronchoscopy. From a patient-specific preoperative scan, we optimize the catheters’ magnetization profiles and the shape-forming actuating field. To generate the required transient magnetic fields, a dual-robot arm system is employed. We fabricate three separate prototypes to demonstrate minimal contact navigation through a three-dimensional bronchial tree phantom under precomputed robotic control. . . . . Using our follow-the-leader approach, we demonstrate up to 50% more accurate tracking, 50% reduction in obstacle contact time during navigation over the state of the art, and an improvement in targeting error of 90%.” MORE
Image Credit: liebertpub.com