Magnetic Robot for Endovascular Intervention: Performance Evaluation

Guidewires are the most common type of interventional device used to treat vascular lesions. Magnetic robots have been developed as alternatives to the guidewire, however, most of the magnetic robot studies are qualitative experimental demonstrations uninvolved the quantitative assessment. This article aims to qualitatively and quantitatively assess the magnetic robot, improving the foreseeability of the tip's deflection induced by the magnetic field. The qualitative assessment of the magnetic robot is executed through a series of experiments: circular navigation and carotid artery navigation in the vascular phantom. Based on the magnetic manipulation, the magnetically actuated robot achieves 120° deflecting toward the desired direction, navigation in the tortuous pathway, and accessing the hard-to-reach distal carotid artery branch. The quantitative assessment of the magnetic robot is carried out by horizontal steering and vertical steering. Experimental results indicate that when the suitable repulsive/attractive mode and field strength are chosen for steering of the magnetically actuated robot in the target vasculature, the argument that the counterclockwise deflection and clockwise deflection may equivalency during steering can generally hold for any plane.