Study of an automatic catheterization method for minimally invasive surgery

In order to implement automatic or semi-automatic catheterization in minimally invasive cardiac interventions by manipulating a steerable catheter, a control strategy based on a continuum robot model is proposed. Firstly, the strategy constructs the kinematics model of the catheter's distal end with rigid links and joints, and performs the kinematic analysis of the catheter's distal end using the D-H method to obtain the Jacobian matrix for the variables of the catheter's ends and joints, and then the kinematics control law of the catheter's distal end; After that, the generalized potential field method is utilized to extract the skeleton of 3D vasculature reconstructed, and then the navigation path in magnetic space is generated through the registration matrix; Finally, through applying an approach to ensure the distal end of catheter to lie in the control circle, the automatic catheterization is accomplished in an aortic arch using a conveyor device. The experimental results indicate that the presented method could fulfill automatic control of a catheter's 3DOF movement and complete the automatic catheterization in an aortic arch.