A Haptic Guidance System for Catheter Navigation with Different Kinesthetic Feedback Profiles

Cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of death globally, and the demand for skilled interventionists is increasing yearly. Robotic catheterization is promising for reducing intervention time and hospital stay but requires extensive training. This thesis proposes and assesses a haptic guidance system to meet rising demand. The proposed interface resembles a conventional tendon-driven cardiac catheter, incorporating active haptic feedback at every degree of freedom. This study formulated and evaluated several force profiles for their efficiency. These profiles include collision prevention, real-time centerline navigation, and reinforcement learning. Our findings indicate a clear performance improvement depending on the region and profile. Overall, the most optimal force profile for the region improved the number of penetrations and penetration depth by about half. The implications of these findings are significant as they can potentially improve patient outcomes in cardiovascular interventions eventually.<p></p>