Design, development and evaluation of a compact telerobotic catheter navigation system

Background Remote catheter navigation systems protect interventionalists from scattered ionizing radiation. However, these systems typically require specialized catheters and extensive operator training. Methods A new compact and sterilizable telerobotic system is described, which allows remote navigation of conventional tip-steerable catheters, with three degrees of freedom, using an interface that takes advantage of the interventionalist's existing dexterity skills. The performance of the system is evaluated ex vivo and in vivo for remote catheter navigation and ablation delivery. Results The system has absolute errors of 0.1 +/- 0.1mm and 7 +/- 6 degrees over 100mm of axial motion and 360 degrees of catheter rotation, respectively. In vivo experiments proved the safety of the proposed telerobotic system and demonstrated the feasibility of remote navigation and delivery of ablation. Conclusion The proposed telerobotic system allows the interventionalist to use conventional steerable catheters; while maintaining a safe distance from the radiation source, he/she can remotely navigate the catheter and deliver ablation lesions. Copyright (C) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.