CochleRob: Parallel-Serial Robot to Position a Magnetic Actuator around a Patient’s Head for Intracochlear Microrobot Navigation

Abstract

Our work introduces a new robotic solution named CochleRob, which is used for the administration of super-paramagnetic antiparticles as drug carriers into the human cochlea for the treatment of hearing loss caused by damaged cochlea. This novel robot architecture presents two key contributions. First, CochleRob has been designed to meet specifications pertaining to ear anatomy, including workspace, degrees of freedom, compactness, rigidity, and accuracy. The first objective was to develop a safer mathod to administer drugs to the cochlea without the need for catheter or CI insertion. Secondly, we aimed at developing and validating the mathemathical models, including forward, inverse, and dynamic models, to support the robot function. Our work provides a promising solution for drug administration into the inner ear.

Magnetic Microrobots for In Vivo Cargo Delivery: A Review

“…Permanent magnets with special configurations can be used to create magnetic field gradients as propulsion platforms in a flexible way. As shown in Figure 2e,f, Abbes et al proposed a magnetic propulsion system composed of four permanent magnets to drive MMRs [16,17]. Compared to configurations with dual permanent magnets [51], this setup exhibits symmetrical behavior in both the xz and yz planes, allowing for the generation of magnetic forces converging to fixed points on both planes, which is beneficial to MMRs' control.…”

“…To actuate MMRs, a variety of magnetic field generators can be employed, including permanent magnets [15][16][17], electromagnets [18], and Helmholtz and/or Maxwell coils [19][20][21][22]. These devices can produce a uniform or non-uniform, gradient [23], or rotating magnetic fields [24,25], exerting forces or torques [26] (or a combination thereof) on ferromagnetic [27] or paramagnetic microrobots [28].…”

A Cost-Effective Integrated Methodology for Electromagnetic Actuation via Visual Feedback

“…Electromagnetic actuation finds application in many engineering sectors since its driving magnetic field can easily and safely propagate through many materials and reach confined spaces. These unique features make this actuation form well-suited for multiple applications broadly related to robotics, such as electromagnetic actuation for image stabilization [1], minimally invasive microrobots for microsurgery [2][3][4][5][6][7][8], targeted drug delivery inside the human body [9,10] or early screening and cancer treatment [11], magnetic levitation (e.g., vertical motion of a ball [12]) and general motion control of ferromagnetic elements (e.g., planar steering of a ferrofluid drop [13]).…”