Steerable Catheter Robotic System for Endoscopic Precision
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current robotic surgical instrumentation for endoscopic procedures is bulky, requires multiple users, and lacks dexterity, making it difficult to navigate through small spaces and perform precise procedures.
Innovation Solution
A steerable catheter robotic system that fits within an endoscope's working channel, featuring a flexible outer sheath, multi-lumen assembly, and a robotic instrument with a handle and joystick for teleoperable control, allowing for multiple degrees of freedom and interchangeable instruments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If robotic surgical instrumentation is used for endoscopic procedures, then surgical precision and capability are improved, but device size and complexity increase making it bulky and requiring multiple users
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic catheter is delivered through the working channel of an endoscope, with the robotic instrument nested within the catheter structure. The catheter itself is delivered through the endoscope's instrument channel, creating a nested configuration where the robotic system fits within existing endoscopic pathways, thereby reducing overall device complexity and footprint while maintaining surgical precision
Solution Approach 2:
The robotic system is divided into separable components including the catheter, the robotic instrument, and the control system. The catheter can be detached and replaced with different robotic instruments for various surgical tasks, allowing the system to maintain high precision across different procedures without requiring a complete complex system for each specific task
2Adaptability or versatility
If traditional robotic arms are used for endoscopic procedures, then surgical capability is enhanced, but the control mechanisms become bulky and require multiple users to operate simultaneously
Solution Approach 1:
The control mechanisms are integrated directly into the catheter handle, combining the functions of catheter control and robotic instrument control into a single handheld device. This merging eliminates the need for separate bulky control stations and multiple operators, while the catheter maintains adaptability for various surgical capabilities through interchangeable instruments
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter employs a flexible construction with control wires embedded within flexible outer sheath and multi-lumen assembly, allowing the entire control system to be contained within a thin, maneuverable structure that can navigate anatomical passages while maintaining surgical capability through precise wire-driven actuation
3Area of stationary object
If robotic instruments are delivered through endoscope working channels, then device footprint is reduced, but the catheter must be sufficiently small and flexible to pass through narrow passages
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter is constructed with a flexible outer sheath and multi-lumen assembly that allows it to bend and navigate through narrow anatomical passages. The flexible construction uses embedded control wires within a compliant structure, enabling the catheter to maintain structural integrity for instrument delivery while adapting to the flexible constraints of endoscopic working channels
Solution Approach 2:
The robotic instrument is nested within the catheter, which itself is delivered through the endoscope's instrument channel. This nested arrangement minimizes the overall equipment footprint by utilizing existing pathways, while the catheter's flexible design ensures it can navigate the necessary anatomical routes to deliver the robotic instrument to the surgical site
Data Source
AI summary
A handheld, steerable catheter robotic system includes a catheter having a flexible outer sheath, at least one flexible multi-lumen assembly and a robotic instrument for performing a surgical procedure. The catheter is removably insertable into an instrument channel of an endoscope. The flexible multi-lumen assembly extends through the outer sheath. The robotic instrument is operatively and removably attachable to a distal end of the multi-lumen assembly such that the robotic instrument is teleoperable. The catheter robotic system also includes a handle operatively and removably attachable to a proximal end of the catheter. The handle is configured for hand-held operation and includes a joystick for steering the robotic instrument.