Flow driven robotic navigation of microengineered endovascular probes

Minimally invasive medical procedures, such as endovascular catheterization, have considerably reduced procedure time and associated complications. However, many regions inside the body, such as in the brain vasculature, still remain inaccessible due to the lack of appropriate guidance technologies....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Nature communications 2020-12, Vol.11 (1), p.6356-6356, Article 6356
Main Authors:	Pancaldi, Lucio, Dirix, Pietro, Fanelli, Adele, Lima, Augusto Martins, Stergiopulos, Nikolaos, Mosimann, Pascal John, Ghezzi, Diego, Sakar, Mahmut Selman
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Actuation Animals Bifurcations Bioengineering Blood vessels Brain research Capillaries Cardiovascular system Catheterization Catheters Complications Computer Simulation Ear - blood supply Ear - surgery Endovascular Procedures - instrumentation Equipment Design Humans Intubation Magnetic fields Magnetic Phenomena Medical instruments Microfluidics Navigation Perfusion Phantoms, Imaging Probes Rabbits Rheology Robotics Robots Steering Temperature Toolkits Translational Medical Research
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Summary:	Minimally invasive medical procedures, such as endovascular catheterization, have considerably reduced procedure time and associated complications. However, many regions inside the body, such as in the brain vasculature, still remain inaccessible due to the lack of appropriate guidance technologies. Here, experimentally and through numerical simulations, we show that tethered ultra-flexible endovascular microscopic probes can be transported through tortuous vascular networks with minimal external intervention by harnessing hydrokinetic energy. Dynamic steering at bifurcations is performed by deformation of the probe head using magnetic actuation. We developed an endovascular microrobotic toolkit with a cross-sectional area that is orders of magnitude smaller than the smallest catheter currently available. Our technology has the potential to improve state-of-the-art practices as it enhances the reachability, reduces the risk of iatrogenic damage, significantly increases the speed of robot-assisted interventions, and enables the deployment of multiple leads simultaneously through a standard needle injection and saline perfusion.
ISSN:	2041-1723 2041-1723