Micro active catheter system with multi degrees of freedom

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a new prototype model of serial-parallel type of active micro catheter (MAC) with two bending degrees of freedom. It is 4 Fr, and 6 Fr (1Fr=1/3mm) in diameter and consist 3 active units incorporating SMA wires in lumina as the servo actuator. The bending motion, bending direction and bending angle of the MAC have been measured by application of electricity in air and in physiological saline solution. We also modeled this MAC. Experimental results show that the model of the MAC is reasonable for practical applications. By using simulators (conditions similar to a body cavity), we carried out the simulation experiments of 'in vitro' and 'in vivo'. The experimental results indicate that the proposed MAC is applicable to intracavity operations.