Modular Robotic Catheters for Endovascular Aneurysm Repair

2026-07-28

AI Summary

This study addresses the limited navigation accuracy of conventional catheters in endovascular interventions involving abdominal aortic branch vessels, which often prolongs procedure duration and increases complication risks. To overcome this challenge, the authors propose a two-segment, four-degree-of-freedom steerable catheter integrated with a modular tendon-driven actuation platform. The catheter tip features a softened and miniaturized design achieved through thermal drawing of fiber preforms and laser micromachining, substantially enhancing flexibility and controllability. Comprehensive simulations and experiments in vascular phantoms demonstrate that the system exhibits superior bending stiffness characteristics and maneuverability. These improvements hold significant promise for reducing procedural time and effectively navigating complex anatomical geometries.

Abstract

Fenestrated/Branched endovascular aneurysm repair (FEVAR/BEVAR) require surgeons to navigate catheters and guidewires into various branches of the abdominal aorta, before deploying stent grafts to alleviate pressure on the aneurysm. Previous clinical studies suggests that surgeons continue to struggle with vessel access using standard commercial instruments, prolonging the procedural time and inducing further complications. In this work, we present two contributions to solving this problem: 1) A bespoke 2-segment steerable catheter, consisting of 4 degrees of freedom to enhance dexterity. 2) An expandable, modular tendon-driven actuation platform that can accommodate for the redundancies introduced in our system. To fabricate the catheter, we capitalized on thermal fiber drawing, a technique that creates high-aspect ratio devices at scale, and processed the catheter with laser micro-machining to soften its tip. We evaluated the system using simulations, where we investigated the catheter's bending stiffness, then its steerability with in-vitro experiments in vascular phantoms. This handheld, robotic steerable catheter system has the potential to shorten the length of future endovascular surgeries, and give clinicians the tools to resolve challenging clinical cases.

Problem

• endovascular aneurysm repair
• catheter navigation
• vessel access
• steerable catheter
• abdominal aorta

Innovation

• modular robotic catheter
• tendon-driven actuation
• thermal fiber drawing
• steerable catheter
• endovascular aneurysm repair