Thermally Drawn-Based Microtubule Soft Continuum Robot for Cardiovascular Intervention

Cardiovascular disease is becoming the leading cause
of human mortality.
In order to address this, flexible continuum robots have emerged as
a promising solution for miniaturizing and automating vascular interventional
equipment for diagnosing and treating cardiovascular diseases. However,
existing continuum robots used for vascular intervention face challenges
such as large cross-sectional sizes, inadequate driving force, and
lack of navigation control, preventing them from accessing cerebral
blood vessels or capillaries for medical procedures. Additionally,
the complex manufacturing process and high cost of soft continuum
robots hinder their widespread clinical application. In this study,
we propose a thermally drawn-based microtubule soft continuum robot
that overcomes these limitations. The proposed robot has cross-sectional
dimensions several orders of magnitude smaller than the smallest commercially
available conduits, and it can be manufactured without any length
restrictions. By utilizing a driving strategy based on liquid kinetic
energy advancement and external magnetic field for steering, the robot
can easily navigate within blood vessels and accurately reach the
site of the lesion. This innovation holds the potential to achieve
controlled navigation of the robot throughout the entire blood vessel,
enabling in situ diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.