Flow driven robotic navigation of microengineered endovascular probes

Lucio Pancaldi, Pietro Dirix, Adele Fanelli, Augusto Martins Lima, Nikolaos Stergiopulos, Pascal John Mosimann, Diego Ghezzi and Mahmut Selman Sakar ()
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Lucio Pancaldi: Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Pietro Dirix: Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Adele Fanelli: Medtronic Chair in Neuroengineering, Center for Neuroprosthetics and Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, EPFL
Augusto Martins Lima: Institute of Bioengineering, EPFL
Nikolaos Stergiopulos: Institute of Bioengineering, EPFL
Pascal John Mosimann: Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology
Diego Ghezzi: Medtronic Chair in Neuroengineering, Center for Neuroprosthetics and Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, EPFL
Mahmut Selman Sakar: Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract 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.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20195-z

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