A Soft Micro-Robotic Catheter for Aneurysm Treatment: A Novel Design and Enhanced Euler-Bernoulli Model with Cross-Section Optimization

Abstract

Aneurysms, balloon-like bulges in blood vessels, present a significant health risk due to their potential to rupture, leading to life-threatening internal bleeding. Current treatments often involve delivering embolic materials or metal coils to fill these bulges, occluding them from the pressure of blood flow. However, clinical micro-catheters that deploy embolic materials used today face limitations, primarily their rigidity and the lack of active control over the bending tip of the catheter. This paper introduces a new soft micro-robotics catheter, with diameter of only 0.8 mm, equipped with a hollow channel. With this new design, the new device can induce bending motions at its tip for active steerability to reach desired aneurysm targets and then perform the delivery of embolic materials and tools. To enhance the control and precise navigation during procedures, a robust mathematical model and image processing techniques are also introduced and validated. Experiments are also performed to characterise and validate the model’s accuracy and the steerability and navigation capabilities of the new micro-catheter.