Abstract
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.