Design and Control of a Robotic Steering Mechanism for Electrophysiological Catheters

This paper proposes a catheter robot system for cardiac ablation therapy. The robot mechanism for actuating the catheter and the control methods of the catheter tip position will be suggested. The robot system consists of a front module and a handle-control module. The front module is a dual-gripper mechanism for inserting and rotating the catheter without slip between the catheter and gripper, and the handle-control module is for controlling the knob for the bending motion of the catheter. The proposed dual-gripper mechanism has the advantage of large contact surface between the grippers and the catheter, like the human finger, allowing it to form a stable grip of the catheter. However, for continuous insertion, the grippers should be controlled interactively. To achieve this, we explain the motion-planning and trajectory-generation methods. Moreover, we propose a control method that can intuitively control the position of the catheter using a mapping system as manual work. We explain the method of updating the Jacobian model in real time using two position sensors attached to the catheter. Finally, we show the simulation and experimental results to confirm the proposed mechanism and control methods useful for controlling the catheter