Magnetostriction-based force feedback for robot-assisted cardiovascular surgery using smart magnetorheological elastomers

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the first cause of mortality, hospitalization and medical prescription worldwide [1]. The most prevalent CVDs are cardiac artery stenosis (CAS) [1]. CAS's are caused by the build-up of fatty or calcified plaques in the coronary arteries and compromise the blood flow downstream to the heart. They may eventually result in cardiac ischemia, cardiac arrest and can be fatal. CAS's are controlled through medication in mild cases, however, need surgical intervention in moderate and severe cases. Magnetorheological elastomer composites are a class of smart materials with controllable deformation by an external magnetic field. Recent studies have shown the feasibility of using magnetorheological composites for tactile feedback applications. In this study, a new haptic feedback system for regulating torque through contact friction was proposed, constitutively modeled, and experimentally validated. To this end, an analytical constitutive model for the composite was proposed and solved and was used to find the contact stress between the composite and a ferromagnetic shaft. Afterward, the proposed device was prototyped and a series of validation studies with three types of magnetorheological composites was performed. The validation studies showed that the analytical predictions for resistant torque were in fair agreement with the experimental results. Also, the proposed device was capable of generating and controlling a resistant torque of up to 115.5 +/- 0.7 mNm and haptic force of up to 5.77 N. The system showed favorable performance for haptic feedback applications in robot-assisted cardiovascular interventions. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality worldwide, with cardiac artery stenosis being one of the most prevalent types. A new haptic feedback system utilizing magnetorheological composites allows for controllable torque regulation, showing promising performance in robot-assisted cardiovascular interventions.