The CathPilot: A Novel Approach for Accurate Interventional Device Steering and Tracking

Accurate catheter navigation is a significant challenge for minimally invasive catheter-based procedures. The catheter’s long length, high flexibility, mechanical interactions with the tortuous anatomy, and inadequate feedback from 2D projection x-ray limit accurate catheter tip control. This thesis describes the design, development, and evaluation of a novel catheter navigation system that directly addresses the fundamental limitations of conventional devices. We designed and developed a novel expandable frame and manual steering system using principles from cable-driven parallel manipulators to provide accurate, reliable, and localized control and feedback of the catheter tip position. The device’s performance under different tortuosity conditions and different expansion sizes were assessed, showing complete workspace coverage with localized steering within the frame and position tracking with submillimetre accuracy (~0.38mm) irrespective of the expansion size and path tortuosity. With the added control and feedback, the CathPilot promises to overcome the limitations of conventional catheter navigation and will allow for the next generation of interventional devices.