Advances in robotic technology have been adopted in various subspecialties of both open and minimally invasive surgery, offering benefits such as enhanced surgical precision and accuracy with reduced fatigue of the surgeon. Despite the advantages, robotic applications to endovascular neurosurgery have remained largely unexplored because of technical challenges such as the miniaturization of robotic devices that can reach the complex and tortuous vasculature of the brain. Although some commercial systems enable robotic manipulation of conventional guidewires for coronary and peripheral vascular interventions, they remain unsuited for neurovascular applications because of the considerably smaller and more tortuous anatomy of cerebral arteries. Here, we present a teleoperated robotic neurointerventional platform based on magnetic manipulation. Our system consists of a magnetically controlled guidewire, a robot arm with an actuating magnet to steer the guidewire, a set of motorized linear drives to advance or retract the guidewire and a microcatheter, and a remote-control console to operate the system under real-time fluoroscopy. We demonstrate our system’s capability to navigate narrow and winding pathways both in vitro with realistic neurovascular phantoms representing the human anatomy and in vivo in the porcine brachial artery with accentuated tortuosity for preclinical evaluation. We further demonstrate telerobotically assisted therapeutic procedures including coil embolization and clot retrieval thrombectomy for treating cerebral aneurysms and ischemic stroke, respectively. Our system could enable safer and quicker access to hard-to-reach lesions while minimizing the radiation exposure to physicians and open the possibility of remote procedural services to address challenges in current stroke systems of care.
Water distribution pipe maintenance is a global concern. In this study, we propose a Rehabilitation In-Pipe Robot (R-IPR) to perform pipe rehabilitation operations and contain induced contamination. The robot features three modules: a pipe cleaning module, a mechanical sealing module, and an in-pipe manipulator module. This study emphasizes the comprehensive design of the mechanical sealing module. We introduce a multi-layer compound structure of the seal to deal with two characteristics of tuberculated pipe surfaces: 1. macroscopical surface roughness, 2. overhang in foundation profile. The prototype excels in sealing foundation overhang and requires 45% lower compression load than a baseline seal to function. The prototype seal is integrated into the R-IPR. Finally, experiments of the overall system demonstrate the successful performance of the first contamination-less in-pipe rehabilitation.
Background: Advances in robotic technology have been adopted in various subspecialties of both open and minimally invasive surgery, offering benefits such as enhanced surgical precision and accuracy with reduced efforts and fatigue. Despite the advantages, robotic applications to endovascular neurosurgery have remained largely unexplored due to technical challenges such as the miniaturization of robotic devices that can navigate the complex and tortuous cerebral vasculature. Although some commercial robotic systems enable precise manipulation of conventional guidewires for coronary and peripheral vascular interventions, they remain unsuited for neurovascular applications due to the considerably smaller and more tortuous anatomy of cerebral arteries. Methods: We present a teleoperated robotic system designed for neurovascular interventions based on magnetic steering and navigation. Our system consists of a magnetically controlled guidewire, a robot arm with a permanent magnet attached to its end-effector for steering control of the guidewire, a set of motorized linear drives to advance or retract the guidewire and a microcatheter, and a remote-control console to operate the system under feedback from real-time fluoroscopic imaging and visualization. Results: With a life-sized neurovascular phantom, we demonstrate the navigational capability to reach several branches of circle of Willis and distal cerebral vasculature with the magnetic guidewire under teleoperation of the system. We further demonstrate telerobotically-assisted therapeutic procedures including coil embolization and clot retrieval thrombectomy for intracranial aneurysms and ischemic stroke, respectively. Conclusion: Our telerobotic neurointerventional platform could enable safer and quicker access to hard-to-reach lesions, significantly reduce operative time and perioperative risk by reducing intravascular manipulation, minimize the radiation exposure to interventionalists, and open the possibility of remote procedural services to address challenges in current stroke systems of care. Note: Animal testing will be performed in Q3 2021 and the results will be presented at ISC.
Water distribution pipe maintenance is a global concern. In this study, we propose a Rehabilitation In-Pipe Robot (R-IPR) to perform pipe rehabilitation operations and contain induced contamination. The robot features three modules: a pipe cleaning module, a mechanical sealing module, and an in-pipe manipulator module. This study emphasizes the comprehensive design of the mechanical sealing module. We introduce a multi-layer compound structure of the seal to deal with two characteristics of tuberculated pipe surfaces: 1. macroscopical surface roughness, 2. overhang in foundation profile. The prototype excels in sealing foundation overhang and requires 45% lower compression load than a baseline seal to function. The prototype seal is integrated into the R-IPR. Finally, experiments of the overall system demonstrate the successful performance of the first contamination-less in-pipe rehabilitation.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.